JEREMY CLARKSON

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Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson was born on April 11, 1960, in Doncaster. He is a British writer and broadcaster who specialises in motoring. He writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun, but is most associated with the BBC motoring programme Top Gear, which he presents, first doing so from 1989 until 1999, and then again from 2002. The show won an International Emmy in 2005. "Not a man given to considered opinion," according to the BBC, Clarkson is known to be opinionated and forthright in his views. He was once described by Tony Parsons in the Daily Mirror as a "dazzling hero of political incorrectness".

Jeremy Clarkson

Biography

Clarkson was educated at Repton School, although he claims to have been expelled for drinking and smoking.^[2] His first job was as a traveling salesman for his parents' business selling Paddington Bear toys, after which he trained as a journalist with the Rotherham Advertiser.

In 1984, he combined his writing skills with his love of cars, and together with a business partner (Jonathan Gill) they formed the Motoring Press Agency (later MPA Fingal), conducting road-tests for local newspapers. He wrote for specialist car magazines such as Performance Car from 1986 until 1994.

He married his agent, Frances Catherine Cain, on May 8, 1993. They have three children: Emily, Finlo, and Katya. The family lives in the Cotswolds near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. They also have a house in Langness, Isle of Man. The Isle of Man is his wife's homeland, and Clarkson described it in 2004 as "a thorn in the side of Tony Blair's nanny state," because of its lack of an upper speed limit. It was revealed during Channel 4'sThe F-Word on July 5, 2006, that Clarkson's house is in fact a lighthouse.

His wife's father, Major Robert Henry Cain, was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. When Clarkson presented a documentary about the Victoria Cross he highlighted the story of Major Cain, only revealing at the end that he had married Cain's daughter and that she hadn't known that her father had won a Victoria Cross until after his death.

In 2004 during an episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, Clarkson was invited to investigate his family history; including the story of his great-great-great grandfather John Kilner (1792–1857), who invented the Kilner jar; a receptacle for preserved fruit.

In spite of his penchant for fast driving and high-perfomance automobiles, Clarkson has been reported as having a clean driving licence record.^[5] None the less, he is not especially reluctant to discuss the subject of fast driving. In a November 2005 article in "The Sunday Times", Mr. Clarkson wrote, while discussing the Bugatti Veyron, "On a recent drive across Europe I desperately wanted to reach the top speed but I ran out of road when the needle hit 240mph", and later, in the same article, "From behind the wheel of a Veyron, France is the size of a small coconut. I cannot tell you how fast I crossed it the other day. Because you simply wouldn’t believe me".

Top Gear DVD cover

Television career

Clarkson is most associated with the UK Motoring Programme Top Gear, which he presented from 1989 to 1999, and then again from 2002, when it was re-launched in a new format after a brief period off the air. His current co-presenters are James May and Richard Hammond. It is now the most watched TV show on BBC Two, with about 350 million viewers around the world. It won an International Emmy in 2005, for the best non-scripted entertainment show that was not broadcast in the U.S. Jeremy proclaimed: "I didn't attend the awards ceremony because I didn't know that we had won, and I only found out after a 4am text message, whilst I was busy writing the script for the next show...."

Clarkson continues to release annual motoring-based videos: his first being 'Clarkson - Unleashed on cars' in 1996. Over the years, his videos have shown him driving many exotic cars, including a Ford GT40 which had been specially adapted to accommodate taller drivers; Clarkson is 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m). He is also known for destroying his most hated cars in various ways, including catapulting a Nissan Sunny using a trebuchet, dropping a Porsche 911 onto a caravan and shooting a Chevrolet Corvette with a Gatling gun attached to an airborne helicopter.

He has also presented other motoring-related series such as Star Cars, Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld, and Jeremy Clarkson's Car Years. For a short while, Jeremy had his own chat show; Clarkson, where he was most notable for offending the Welsh by placing a 3D plastic map of Wales into a microwave oven and switching it on. He later defended this by saying "I put Wales in there because Scotland wouldn't fit". Similarly, he offended Americans by removing the map of the USA and renaming the resultant space the 'South Canada Sea'.

After the dismissal of Angus Deayton, Clarkson was one of a number of guest hosts recruited to present the topical panel show, Have I Got News For You. He was the first such host never to have previously been a guest of the programme. As of June 2, 2006, he has presented the show four times and been a guest once.

In addition to television, Clarkson also has a role in the Pixar movie Cars as the voice of Harv, Lightning McQueen's agent, but only in the British release — Harv is played by Jeremy Piven in the North American release.

Engineering interests

Clarkson is passionate about engineering, especially pioneering work, as his television programmes about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Colossus computer have shown. Clarkson was awarded an honorary degree from Brunel University on September 12, 2003, partly because of his work in popularising engineering, and partly because of his advocacy of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 100 Greatest Britons programme.

In April 2004, he appeared on the talk show Parkinson and mentioned that he was writing a book about the soul he believes many machines have. The book, titled I Know You Got Soul was published in October 2004. He cited Air France Flight 4590 as his primary example: when people heard the plane had crashed, quite aside from the sadness they felt for the loss of human life, there was almost a sadness for the machine. Clarkson was one of the passengers on the last BA Concorde flight on October 24, 2003. He paraphrased Neil Armstrong to describe the retiring of Concorde: "This is one small step for a man, but one huge leap backwards for mankind".

Clarkson owns various cars including Ford's latest supercar, the Ford GT, a Mercedes SL55 AMG, a Volvo XC90, Ford Focus and a BMW M5. His experiences with his Ford GT are well documented, having had many issues with the satellite tracker/alarm system - he reported that it would tell him the car had been stolen even when he was driving it. As a result of what he called "the most miserable month's motoring possible", he returned it to Ford for a full refund. After a short period, including asking Top Gear fans for advice over the internet, he bought back his GT. He has called it "the most unreliable car ever made", due to his never being able to complete a return journey using it. In the October 2006 edition of Top Gear Magazine James May stated Clarkson was looking to purchase a Gallardo Spider. He also owned a Ferrari F355 for a short while. This was sold to make way for an SL55 AMG to which an SLK55 AMG was subsequently added.

His known passion for single- or two-passenger high-velocity transport led to his brief acquisition of an English Electric Lightning F.1A jet fighter, which was installed in the front garden of his country home. The Lightning was subsequently removed on the orders of the local council, which "wouldn't believe my claim that it was a leaf blower", according to Clarkson on a Tiscali Motoring webchat. In fact, the whole affair was a setup for the programme Speed, and English Electric Lightning XM172 is now back with the Farnborough preservation group.

After testing the Bugatti Veyron, he pondered and announced that he felt sorry, saying he would never drive a car again that would match it.

Controversy

Clarkson has often been the focus of controversy. His comments have sometimes caused offence, and while they have generally been taken as humorous, some have been offended by them. Clarkson has often made the observation that such remarks are usually given in a humorous context and that he hates everybody equally.

Rover

Clarkson was known for his relentless criticism of Rover cars, which were manufactured at Austin Motor Company's Longbridge plant. After BMW pulled out of Longbridge Rover was bought by the Phoenix Consortium and the English MG and Rover brands merged becoming the last major British owned and built car manufacturer. Despite some moderately successful models and continued success in touring cars from the company, Clarkson continued to criticise Rover, both on TV and in the papers. However, he did reserve some sympathy for the Rover workers left jobless, saying in his Sunday Times column, "I cannot even get teary and emotional about the demise of the company itself — though I do feel sorry for the workforce."

Vauxhall

Due to his constant criticism of Vauxhall cars, many Vauxhall workers blamed him for the Vectra’s poor sales. Ironically, officials from General Motors — who own Vauxhall — invited Clarkson to the launch of the much-improved Vectra, although it is not known whether he attended. Clarkson's view on Vauxhall has significantly changed in recent years. He praised the VX220 Turbo and the Monaro (although it should be pointed out that the Vauxhall Monaro is a re-badged Holden). He also gave the Astra VXR positive reviews, although his dislike of the Vectra has remained.

Accusations of racism

In October 1998, Hyundai cars complained to the BBC about what they described as "bigoted and racist" comments he made at the Birmingham Motor Show, where he was reported as saying that the people working on the Hyundai stand had "eaten a dog" (due to the fact that some Koreans are known for their consumption of dog meat), and that the designer of the Hyundai XG had probably eaten a spaniel for his lunch. He also allegedly referred to those working on the BMW stand as "Nazis". He has also described some BMW vehicles as "Nazi staff cars".

Accusations of homophobia

In July 2006, Clarkson attracted complaints from British gay rights groups after agreeing with a Top Gear audience member that a featured car was a bit "gay" or "ginger beer" (rhyming slang for "queer"). The complainants felt that the presenter was using the word pejoratively - a claim the BBC denied.

Celebrities

Clarkson has also made numerous controversial remarks on Have I Got News for You. He once famously jested, during a dispute that Paul McCartney should be credited before John Lennon on many of The Beatles' songs, that he believed McCartney should have been listed above Lennon on Mark David Chapman's hitlist. He also joked that Paul McCartney has offered a date to a woman who used her prosthetic leg to fend off a Rottweiler, in relation to his failed marriage to Heather Mills. Clarkson also defended Camilla Parker-Bowles on an episode. "People often criticise her (Parker-Bowles) because she's approaching 60," he said, "but they forget that Princess Diana was approaching 120 when she went into that tunnel." He also remarked that Camilla's personal make up artist was known as "Ken the plasterer".

He has a long-running public feud with Piers Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror. In October 2003, on the last Concorde flight, he threw a glass of water over Morgan while the two were exchanging insults. In March 2004, at the British Press Awards, he cursed at Morgan and punched him, apparently angry that the newspaper had published photographs of Clarkson with a woman who was not his wife.

Top Gear

In February of 2004, Clarkson rammed a 30-year-old horse chestnut tree with a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck to demonstrate how rugged the vehicle was. This led to the BBC having to compensate the local parish council who, until they saw the Top Gear broadcast, thought that the damage had been caused by local vandals. In July 2006, Clarkson attracted complaints on the programme Top Gear when he said that bus drivers are "little Hitlers", making a comment about Muslims, picking out an audience member with long hair and a beard and called him Jesus. He later said that he had received more complaints because of his attitude to caravans.

Clarkson's views on cyclists and promotion of motoring have caused concern among cycling and road-safety organisations. Transport 2000 have called for Top Gear to be replaced by a more safety, and environmentally-aware, motoring programme called "Third Gear". Additionally, in 1999, several Members of Parliament criticized Top Gear for being "obsessed with acceleration". The BBC however has rejected numerous complaints about the show and its presenters, "Were the presenters' comments and pranks carried out with any degree of seriousness, rather than being clearly tongue-in-cheek or adopting the deliberate overstatement that is the programme's trademark, we would of course take issue with them".

Clarkson and his fellow presenters have come under increased scrutiny following Richard Hammond's jet-powered car crash in September of 2006, leading to concerns that the show may be axed. Notably, road safety minister, Stephen Ladyman has backed the show, stating of Hammond's crash, "I think it would be really sad if a real tragedy like this one was used to attack an entertainment."

The BBC has recently announced that the show will continue and despite Richard Hammond's crash, there were no plans for it to be axed.

Other controversies

During the 13 November 2005 episode, a news segment featuring BMW's Mini Concept from the Tokyo Motor Show showcased what fellow-presenter Richard Hammond quoted as a "quintessentially British" integrated tea set. Clarkson responded by mocking that the German designed-and-owned Mini Cooper should be fitted with "a quintessentially German [...] sat-nav that only goes to Poland" in reference to the Nazi invasion of Poland that started World War II, saying that "[one] fan belt will last a thousand years", a reference to Adolf Hitler's propaganda slogan of "the thousand-year Reich". These statements gained negative attention in the British and German news media. He made similar remarks about the new Mercedes S-Class when he used the car's speech recognition system, built into the SatNav, to take him to Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

In September 2005, Clarkson wrote an editorial for The Sun, criticising Americans after the Hurricane Katrina rescue response, and included the comment: "Most Americans barely have the brains to walk on their back legs". He has also said on Top Gear when comparing a rural British village with a rural American village that "[in rural America, the town] would be full of people doing… whatever it is they do. Incest, mostly".

In the Sunday Times on June 2, 2002, he joked that he had spent the day hunting rats using tennis racquets and croquet mallets. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issued a warning to him as a result of this comment. During a guest appearance on QI, screened on November 11, 2005, he said that seal flipper tastes "exactly like licking a hot Turkish urinal". He also ate whale (which he said tastes like steak but with an iron tang), covered in grated puffin. He said, "The waiter asked if I wanted some grated puffin on my whale and how do you say no to something like that?"

Clarkson hit in the face with a pie after receiving his engineering degree

In 2005, the School of Technology at Oxford Brookes University awarded him an honorary engineering doctorate, leading to protests from green organizations, who objected to his statements about the environment and his advocacy of car use. He has said: "I do have a disregard for the environment. I think the world can look after itself and we should enjoy it as best as we can". After the ceremony, he was hit in the face with a banana-meringue pie by Rebecca Lush of Roadblock. Clarkson took the insult with humour, commenting that the pie had too much sugar.

In May 2006, a long-standing conflict between Clarkson and the British environmentalist and chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, Jonathon Porritt, boiled over when Porritt described Clarkson as an "outstandingly bigoted petrol-head" because of the perceived influence of his views on global warming. Clarkson responded in his Sunday Times column: "I should be worried, I suppose, but mostly I’m rather flattered. For years I’ve felt like King Canute sitting on the beach, watching helplessly as the tide of eco-offal rolls inexorably towards the shore. But now Mr Pot-Porritt has come out of nowhere to say that I really do have the power to hold back his plans to make trains out of cardboard and create electricity by composting Tories."

Clarkson is one of a few celebrities who have been blamed for poor denim sales. Draper's Record, trade magazine to the fashion industry, ran an article on Clarkson's poor fashion image: "For a period in the late Nineties denim became unfashionable. "501s — Levi's flagship brand — in particular suffered from the so-called 'Jeremy Clarkson effect', the association with men in middle youth." He was also featured on What Not to Wear, where he was named as one of "the world's worst-dressed celebrities".

Clarkson has always been noted for his pro-smoking viewpoint, even publicly smoking as much as possible on National No Smoking Day. However, he announced that on 14 April 2006 he had given up smoking. He cited that he had found a cure for the urge - the Koenigsegg CCX.

Trivia

• J. Bonington Jagworth, "militant leader of the Motorists' Liberation Front" – character invented by Peter Simple who bears a strong resemblance to Clarkson.

• He was voted number 66 in Channel 4's 100 Worst Britons programme.

• He came 19th in ITV1's TV's 50 Greatest Stars.

• Clarkson played Lightning McQueen's agent Harrv in the UK version of the Pixar Movie, Cars.

Works

Other motoring shows

• Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld 1995-1996

• Clarkson's Car Years 1999-2001

Non-motoring shows

• Clarkson (1998-2000): A chat show that ran for three series

• Jeremy Clarkson's Extreme Machines (1998): where he rode all manner of machines, including a plane, and an airboat.

• Robot Wars (1997): Clarkson presented the first series of the UK version

• Jeremy Clarkson Meets The Neighbours: A notorious Europhobe, Clarkson travelled around Europe, confronting (and in some cases reinforcing) his prejudices

• Speed (2001): A series about the history of fast vehicles, including aeroplanes, boats and cars. One episode featured Michael Schumacher as a special guest.

• Have I Got News For You: hosted four episodes, the first in 2002, two in 2005 and one in 2006. Also appeared as a guest in 2003

• Inventions That Changed the World (2004): five episodes featuring the invention of the gun/computer/jet engine/telephone/television from a British point of view

• Top of the Pops: co-hosted one episode on July 24, 2005 with Fearne Cotton.

• QI: appeared as a guest on four occasions

• Room 101: appeared on this in 1995 when Nick Hancock was host. Clarkson's choices were caravans; flies; Last Of The Summer Wine; the mentality within golf clubs; and vegetarians

• Grumpy Old Men (2003-4): Clarkson appeared alongside his friend, the food critic A A Gill, in a Christmas special and then in the second full season of this series

• Jeremy Clarkson: Who Do You Think You Are? (2004): Clarkson traced his family tree for one episode the popular documentary series

• Great Britons : In a poll to find the greatest historical Briton, Clarkson was the chief supporter for Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who came second

• The Victoria Cross: For Valour (2003): Clarkson presented a one-off documentary about the history of the Victoria Cross

• Never Mind The Buzzcocks: Guest presenter April 10, 2006

Videos

• Jeremy Clarkson's Motorsport Mayhem (1995)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Unleashed On Cars (1996)

• The Best Of Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld (1996)

• More Motorsport Mayhem Featuring Jeremy Clarkson And Steve Rider (1996)

• Jeremy Clarkson's Unlimited Extreme Machines (1997)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Apocalypse Clarkson (1997)

• The Most Outrageous Jeremy Clarkson Video In The World...Ever (1998)

• Jeremy Clarkson Head To Head (1999)

• Jeremy Clarkson - At Full Throttle (2000)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Top 100 Cars (2001)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Speed (2001)

• Jeremy Clarkson - No Limits (2002)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Shootout (2003)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Hot Metal (2004)

• Jeremy Clarkson - Heaven And Hell (2005)

• Jeremy Clarkson - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (2006)

Books

• Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld (1996)

• Clarkson on Cars: Writings and Rantings of the BBC's Top Motoring Correspondent (1996)

• Clarkson's Hot 100 (1996)

• Jeremy Clarkson's Planet Dagenham: Drivestyles of the Rich and Famous (1998)

• Born to Be Riled: The Collected Writings of Jeremy Clarkson (1999)

• Jeremy Clarkson's Ultimate Ferrari (2001)

• The World According To Clarkson (2004)

• Clarkson on Cars (2004)

• I Know You Got Soul (2004)

• Motorworld (2004)

• Świat według Clarksona (Polish edition of The World According to Clarkson, 2006)

LINKS and REFERENCE

1. BBC Family history site, Accessed 9 July 2006.

2. Clarkson wins back his title Times Online. Accessed 2 August 2006.

3. Jeremy Clarkson Accessed 2 August 2006.

4. Who Do You Think You Are? Accessed 2 August 2006.

5. Top Gear series 7, episode 3, "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car."

6. "Ellen on BBC TWO’S Top Gear." Team Ellen. 2 December 2005. Accessed 2 July 2006.

7. A formula one from Pixar The Observer. Accessed 2 August 2006.

8. One giant leap backwards The Sun Online. Accessed 2 August 2006.

9. Top Gear series 7 episode 5, Bugatti Veyron segment.

10. Row over Clarkson honorary degree BBC News. Accessed 2 August 2006.

11. Clarkson in the doghouse BBC News. Accessed 2 August 2006.

12. 'I should have been fired years ago, to be honest' The Observer. Accessed 2 August 2006.

13. TV star out of intensive care Accessed 24 September, 2006.

14. BBC backs 'provocative' Top Gear BBC News. Accessed 2 August 2006.

15. Road safety minister backs Top Gear daredevils Accessed 24 September, 2006.

16. Germans up in arms over Clarkson's mocking Nazi salute The Scotsman. Accessed 2 August 2006.

17. Top Gear series 6 episode 11, Ford F-150 segment, approx 4 minutes into the clip.

18. Clarkson hit by pie at degree ceremony The Guardian. Accessed 2 August 2006.

19. Clarkson's biggest flans The Sun. Accessed 2 August 2006.

20. Pot-Porritt wants me eliminated Times Online. Accessed 2 August 2006.

21. Shakespeare's Bottom pinched by Levi admen The Telegraph. Accessed 2 August 2006.

22. Top Gear series 8 episode 1, Koenigsegg segment.

23. Jeremy Clarkson at the Internet Movie Database

24. Archive of Clarkson's Sunday Times columns

25. Petition opposing Clarkson's receiving an honorary degree

26. Some best bit of Clarkson

27. Clarkson writing about his use of Wikipedia

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