Clement Freud

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Biographical Information

Sir Clement Freud (died in 1999), grandson of Sigmund Freud. His elder brother is Lucian Freud, and his son is Matthew Freud and daughter is Emma Freud.

"Freud broke into journalism in 1956 as a sports writer for the Observer, first tackling food in 1961 as cookery editor of Time and Tide on the back of his success as proprietor of the Royal Court Theatre Club; he later wrote for the Observer and Telegraph magazines, doubling as a daredevil reporter who suffered frostbite on an RAF survival course... He was — until sacked for betting illegally in his own casino — a director of the Playboy Club in London and of Playboy International... Due to the Liberals’ limited numbers he served as their spokesman on several subjects... He completed his education at Dartington Hall and St Paul’s...

"In 1952 he became proprietor of the Royal Court Theatre Club, making it a highly successful avant-garde dinner-and-dance venue in still-drab post-war London. He pioneered a menu of quality, took the stage with a decidedly lewd cabaret turn, gave Dudley Moore his first break and honed his skill in attracting headlines... Early in 1963 the Royal Court reclaimed the premises for its own use. Freud then ran a succession of restaurants — one at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park — and wrote and broadcast prolifically. He entered the realm of satire on David Frost’s Not So Much A Programme, the supposedly “safe” successor to That Was The Week That Was, but it was 1967 before his television career took off...

"Freud’s foray into politics came as a total surprise, giving rise to the suggestion that it was a stunt. Moreover with earnings he estimated at £55,000 a year, he did not need the parliamentary salary. Stunt or no, Freud waged an effective campaign in the Isle of Ely following the death of the Conservative Sir Harry Legge-Bourke, whose most memorable act had been to urge Harold Macmillan to quit at the height of his troubles...

"A former secretary of the Refugee Children's Fund, he set up, with Jonathan Aitken, a Parliamentary Den of the Good Bears of the World, providing teddies to children in hospital, and was later president of the Down's Children Association...

"In 1950 Freud married the actress Jill Raymond; she, their three sons and two daughters survive him."