Jon Cleary
Encyclopedia
Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australia
n author.
, Sydney
. He wrote many books, among them The Sundowners
(1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner (1966), the first of a long series of popular detective fiction works featuring Sydney Police Inspector Scobie Malone
. A number of Cleary's works have been the subject of film or television adaptations.
Cleary enlisted in the Australian army on 27 May 1940 and was discharged on 10 October 1945 with the rank of lieutenant. His first novel was the 1947 work, You Can't See 'Round Corners
, which dwelt on the life of an army deserter wanted for the sensational murder of his girlfriend in wartime Sydney.
Cleary worked as a journalist for the Australia News and Information Bureau in London from 1948–49 and in New York from 1949–51.
Cleary's honours include the Australian Broadcasting Commission prize for radio drama in 1944, the Australian Literary Society's Crouch Medal for Best Australian Novel in 1950, an Edgar Award
from the Mystery Writers of America
for Best Novel (Peter's Pence) in 1975, and the Australian Crime Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.
He died on 19 July 2010, aged 92.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author.
Biography
Cleary was born in ErskinevilleErskineville, New South Wales
Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Erskineville is located about 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He wrote many books, among them The Sundowners
The Sundowners (novel)
-Plot:The story is set in the Australian Outback during the 1920's and deals with the Carmody family.Paddy Carmody, Australian-born son of Irish migrants, is an itinerant worker, travelling the country with his wife Ida and son Sean in a horse-drawn wagon...
(1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner (1966), the first of a long series of popular detective fiction works featuring Sydney Police Inspector Scobie Malone
Scobie Malone
Scobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
. A number of Cleary's works have been the subject of film or television adaptations.
Cleary enlisted in the Australian army on 27 May 1940 and was discharged on 10 October 1945 with the rank of lieutenant. His first novel was the 1947 work, You Can't See 'Round Corners
You Can't See 'Round Corners
You Can't See 'Round Corners was the first published novel by Jon Cleary. The plot concerns a bookie who is drafted into the Australian Army during World War II and deserts....
, which dwelt on the life of an army deserter wanted for the sensational murder of his girlfriend in wartime Sydney.
Cleary worked as a journalist for the Australia News and Information Bureau in London from 1948–49 and in New York from 1949–51.
Cleary's honours include the Australian Broadcasting Commission prize for radio drama in 1944, the Australian Literary Society's Crouch Medal for Best Australian Novel in 1950, an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
for Best Novel (Peter's Pence) in 1975, and the Australian Crime Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.
He died on 19 July 2010, aged 92.
Awards
- 2004 – Ned Kelly AwardsNed Kelly AwardsThe Ned Kelly Awards are Australia's leading literary awards for crime writing in both the crime fiction and true crime genres...
Best Novel for Degrees of Connection - 1996 – Ned Kelly AwardsNed Kelly AwardsThe Ned Kelly Awards are Australia's leading literary awards for crime writing in both the crime fiction and true crime genres...
Lifelong Contribution to the Crime, Mystery and Detective Genres - 1975 – Edgar AwardEdgar AwardThe Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Peter's Pence
Novels
- You Can't See 'Round CornersYou Can't See 'Round CornersYou Can't See 'Round Corners was the first published novel by Jon Cleary. The plot concerns a bookie who is drafted into the Australian Army during World War II and deserts....
(1947) - The Long Shadow (1949)
- Just Let Me Be (1950)
- The SundownersThe Sundowners (novel)-Plot:The story is set in the Australian Outback during the 1920's and deals with the Carmody family.Paddy Carmody, Australian-born son of Irish migrants, is an itinerant worker, travelling the country with his wife Ida and son Sean in a horse-drawn wagon...
(1952) - The Climate of Courage (1954)
- Justin Bayard (1955) (aka Dust in the Sun)
- The Green Helmet (1957)
- Back of Sunset (1959)
- North From Thursday (1960)
- The Country of Marriage (1962)
- Forests of the Night (1963)
- A Flight of Chariots (1963)
- The Fall of an Eagle (1965)
- The High Commissioner (1966) - the first Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - The Pulse of Danger (1966)
- The Long Pursuit (1967)
- Season of Doubt (1968)
- Remember Jack Hoxie (1969)
- Helga's Web (1970) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Mask of the Andes (1971) (aka The Liberators)
- Man's Estate (1972) (aka The Ninth Marquess)
- Ransom (1973) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - The Safe House (1975)
- Peter's Pence (1975)
- A Sound of Lightning (1976)
- High Road to China (1977)
- Vortex (1979)
- The Beaufort Sisters (1979)
- A Very Private War (1980)
- The Faraway Drums (1981)
- The Golden Sabre (1981)
- Spearfield's Daughter (1982)
- The Phoenix Tree (1984)
- The City of Fading Light (1985)
- Dragons at the Party (1987) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Now and Then, Amen (1988) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Babylon South (1989) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - You, the Jury (1990) (reprint of 1950 Just Let Me Be)
- Murder Song (1990) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Pride's Harvest (1991) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Dark Summer (1992) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Bleak Spring (1993) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Autumn Maze (1994) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Winter Chill (1995) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Endpeace (1996) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Five Ring Circus (1998) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - A Different Turf (1998)
- Dilemma (1999) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Bear Pit (2000) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Yesterday's Shadow (2001) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - The Easy Sin (2002) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Degrees of ConnectionDegrees of ConnectionDegrees of Connection is a 2003 Ned Kelly Award winning novel by the Australian author Jon Cleary.-Notes:*Dedication: "For Joy ".*This is the 20th, and so far last, novel in the author's Scobie Malone series....
(2003) - Scobie MaloneScobie MaloneScobie Malone is a fictional Australian police detective created by Jon Cleary. Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, he made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. Cleary did not originally intend to create a series but brought the character back later for Helga's Web...
novel - Miss Ambar Regrets (2004)
- Morning's Gone (2006)
- Four-Cornered Circle (2007)
Films
- Dust in the SunDust in the SunDust in the Sun is a 1958 Australian mystery film adapted from a novel by Jon Cleary and produced by the team of Lee Robinson and Chips Rafferty.-Synopsis:...
(Justin Bayard) (1958), starring Jill Adams and Ken Wayne - original novel only - The Siege of PinchgutThe Siege of PinchgutThe Siege of Pinchgut is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Harry Watt. It was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. It was the last film from Ealing Studios.-Plot:...
(1959) - screenplay only - The SundownersThe SundownersThe Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place...
(1960), starring Robert MitchumRobert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, Deborah KerrDeborah KerrDeborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
, Glynis JohnsGlynis JohnsGlynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
, Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
- based on his novel, did uncredited rewrite on script - The Green HelmetThe Green HelmetThe Green Helmet is a 1961 British film starring Bill Travers, Ed Begley and Sid James. The film is centred around a British motor racing team. It is based on a novel by Australian author Jon Cleary.-Cast:* Bill Travers as Rafferty...
(1961), starring Bill TraversBill TraversWilliam Lindon-Travers was an English actor, screenwriter, director and an animal rights activist, known professionally as Bill Travers.-Life and career:...
, Ed BegleyEd BegleyEdward James Begley, Sr. was an Academy Award-winning American actor.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in...
, Sid JamesSid JamesSid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
and Nancy Walters - based on his novel, wrote script - Nobody Runs ForeverNobody Runs ForeverNobody Runs Forever also called The High Commissioner is a 1968 film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in England caught up in...
(The High Commissioner) (1968), starring Rod Taylor, Christopher PlummerChristopher PlummerArthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
, Lilli PalmerLilli PalmerLilli Palmer , born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life and career:...
and Camilla SparvCamilla SparvCamilla Sparv is a Swedish actress. She was briefly married to American film producer Robert Evans in 1965....
- based on his novel - You Can't See 'round CornersYou Can't See 'round CornersYou Can't See 'round Corners is a 1969 Australian drama film directed by David Cahill. The film is a theatrical version of the TV show You Can't See Round Corners. It was based on the novel by Jon Cleary updated to the Vietnam War.-Cast:...
(1969) (adaptation of television series), starring Ken Shorter, Rowena WallaceRowena WallaceRowena Wallace is a Gold -Logie winning Australian actress, best known for her role as Patricia in Sons and Daughters.-Early life and budding career:...
and Carmen DuncanCarmen DuncanCarmen Joan Duncan is an Australian actress.-Biography:Carmen Duncan is known to Australian audiences as a character actress in films and on television...
- based on his novel - Sidecar Racers (1975) - screenplay only
- Scobie Malone (Helga's Web) (1975), starring Jack ThompsonJack Thompson (actor)Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society...
, Judy MorrisJudy MorrisJudy Morris is an Australian actress, film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 54 different television shows and films, but most recently for co-writing a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica which became Happy Feet, Australia's largest...
, Shane PorteousShane PorteousJohn Shane Porteous is an Australian television character actor, TV screenplay scriptwriter, theatre actor, animation layout artist, and animation voice artist.-Biography:...
and Jacqueline Kott - based on his novel - High Road to ChinaHigh Road to ChinaHigh Road to China is a 1983 adventure-comedy film, set in the 1920s, starring Tom Selleck as a hard-drinking biplane pilot hired by society heiress Eve 'Evie' Tozer to find her missing father . The supporting cast includes Robert Morley and Brian Blessed. The Golden Harvest film was directed by...
(1983), starring Bess ArmstrongBess ArmstrongElizabeth Key "Bess" Armstrong is an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Armstrong was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Louise Allen , who taught at Bryn Mawr, and Alexander Armstrong, an English teacher at the Gilman School...
and Tom SelleckTom SelleckThomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
- based on his novel
Television adaptations
- You Can't See 'Round Corners (1967), starring Ken Shorter, John Armstrong, Rowena Wallace and Carmen Duncan - based on his novel
- Spearfield's Daughter (1986) (mini series), starring Christopher Plummer, Nancy MarchandNancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
, Kim Braden and Steve RailsbackSteve RailsbackSteve Railsback is an American theatre, film and television actor, born in Dallas, Texas.-Personal life:Railsback was born Stephen Hall Railsback, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Emerett Spencer and Clyde Webb Railsback.-Career:Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in...
- based on his novel