Clive Francis was born in Eastbourne, Sussex on 26 June 1946 and trained at RADA. His father, Raymond Francis, played one of England’s most famous detectives during the 50s and 60s, when he appeared as Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart in the long-running television series NO HIDING PLACE. His mother, Margaret Towner, was an actress and continued performing well into her 80s, appearing as Jira in STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

 

Clive began adapting for the stage in 2000 when he created a one-man show of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL. In 2002 Clive was commissioned along with Paul Minett and Brian Leveson to adapt the old Ealing film comedy THE LAVENDER HILL MOB for the stage. Clive directed it as well as performing the role of Alec Guinness. In 2004 he was commissioned by Nottingham and Salisbury Playhouses to adapt Arthur Conan Doyle's THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, in which he worked alongside Tim Bird - who created an ingenious projection design - and the director Richard Baron, with whom he has now formed a production company called Strange Bedfellows. In 2006 Ian Fricker presented Clive's adaptation of Jerome K. Jerome's THREE MEN IN A BOAT which, along with THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, toured successfully in 2007/8. His adaptation of Graham Greene's OUR MAN IN HAVANA toured in 2009/10.

 

He is currently working on a stage adaptation of an Evelyn Waugh novel.