T. E. B. Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Ernest Bennett Clarke 7 June 1907 Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK |
| Died | 11 February 1989 (aged 81) Surrey, England, UK |
| Other names | Tibby |
| Occupation | Writer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1944–1980 |
| Spouse(s) | Joyce Caroline Steele (1932–1983) |
| Relatives | Dudley Clarke (older brother) |
| Awards | Best Story and Screenplay 1952 The Lavender Hill Mob |
Thomas Ernest Bennett "Tibby" Clarke (7 June 1907 – 11 February 1989) was a movie scriptwriter who wrote several of the Ealing Studios comedies. His elder brother Dudley Clarke was notable as a military deception pioneer.
His scripts always feature careful logical development from a slightly absurd premise to a farcical conclusion. In 1952 he was awarded a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his script for The Lavender Hill Mob, making him one of just a handful of Britons to receive this award. He continued to work as a scriptwriter after Ealing ceased production in the mid-1950s, his later contributions including Sons and Lovers and the Disney film The Horse Without a Head.
Clarke was also a novelist and writer of non-fiction, and was not above presenting his fictions as fact – most notably the 1981 book Murder at Buckingham Palace, which purports to tell the story of a hushed-up murder in the Royal residence in 1935. Despite its including 'documentary' photographs, there is no external evidence that the book is anything but pure fiction. For The Blue Lamp (1950) he drew on his experience as a war reserve constable with the Metropolitan Police during the Second World War.[1][2]
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1960 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.
Bibliography
Screenplays
- Johnny Frenchman
- Hue and Cry
- Against the Wind
- Passport to Pimlico
- The Blue Lamp
- The Magnet
- The Lavender Hill Mob
- The Titfield Thunderbolt
- The Rainbow Jacket
- Barnacle Bill (All at Sea in the US)
- Gideon's Day (Gideon of Scotland Yard in the US)
Non-fiction
- Go South - Go West
- What's Yours?
- Intimate Relations (book)|Intimate Relations
- This is Where I Came In
Novels
- Jeremy's England
- Cartwright Was a Cad
- Two and Two Make Five
- Mr Spirket Reforms
- The World Was Mine
- The Wide Open Door
- The Trail of the Serpent
- The Wrong Turning
- The Man Who Seduced a Bank
- Murder at Buckingham Palace
- Intimate Relations (ISBN 9780718109271)
References
- ^ Burton, Alan; Chibnall, Steve (2013). Historical dictionary of British cinema. Blue Ridge Summit, MA: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. 103. ISBN 9780810867949.
- ^ "T.E.B. Clarke, Writer, Dies at 81". New York Times. 15 February 1989. Retrieved 23 November 2020.