T. E. B. Clarke

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T. E. B. Clarke
Born
Thomas Ernest Bennett Clarke

(1907-06-07)7 June 1907
Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Died11 February 1989(1989-02-11) (aged 81)
Surrey, England, UK
Other namesTibby
OccupationWriter, screenwriter
Years active1944–1980
Spouse(s)Joyce Caroline Steele (1932–1983)
RelativesDudley Clarke (older brother)
AwardsBest Story and Screenplay
1952 The Lavender Hill Mob

Thomas Ernest Bennett "Tibby" Clarke, OBE (7 June 1907 – 11 February 1989) was a film 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 .

Clarke was also a novelist and writer of non-fiction, and was not above presenting his fictions as fact – most notably the 1981 book , 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 awarded the OBE in 1952. 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[]

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[]

  1. ^ Burton, Alan; Chibnall, Steve (2013). Historical dictionary of British cinema. Blue Ridge Summit, MA: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. 103. ISBN 9780810867949.
  2. ^ "T.E.B. Clarke, Writer, Dies at 81". New York Times. 15 February 1989. Retrieved 23 November 2020.

External links[]

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