Oz Clarke

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Oz Clarke
OBE
Born1949 (age 74–75)[citation needed]
OccupationActor, broadcaster, television presenter and wine writer
NationalityBritish
SubjectWine

Robert Owen Clarke

OBE (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster.[1]

Early life

Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up

He claims to have been given his chosen name, Oz, "in the school showers" when he was 13, because he played cricket like an Australian cricketer.[3] The Australian cricket team was touring the UK at the same time. Prior to this, he answered to the name Robbie, or Robin formally. His goal was to educate British people about making wine approachable to the British public, and introduce them to the high quality wines that Australians and most of the Western World enjoys.[4]

Having grown up in

cricket for Babes of Kent schoolboys and supports Gillingham. He can be seen wearing a Gillingham scarf in Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas, broadcast prior to Christmas 2009 and James May's Man Lab Christmas Special, broadcast prior to Christmas 2011, both on BBC Two
.

Acting career

After Oxford, Clarke started a career as a full-time actor and singer. His first job was at Northampton, followed by Sheffield, Manchester and Leicester. He then worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Old Vic and Chichester. In the West End, he appeared with Michael Crawford in Billy at Drury Lane, sang Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, played all the men in The Mitford Girls and General Peron in Evita. It was during this acting period that he was drafted in to the newly formed English Wine Tasting Team, who won competitions against France, Germany and the USA, among others. This proved crucial for his career development.

When a wine expert dropped out of the new BBC show Food and Drink, the acclaimed television producer Peter Bazalgette allegedly shouted, 'Get me the actor who knows about wine'. They did, and Clarke's career began to shift away from theatre towards wine, but not out of the entertainment business. He and Jilly Goolden became the voices and faces of wine in Britain for a generation.[5]

He played one of the first criminals apprehended by Superman in the 1978 film Superman, a terrorist in Superman II, a Special Branch man in Who Dares Wins and Balthasar in Stuart Burge's 1984 film of Much Ado About Nothing. He sang the baritone role – and Sam Gamgee's song – in the BBC adaptation of The Lord of the Rings and recorded Stephen Oliver's A Man of Feeling for Granada TV.

On December 2011, Clarke was one of the team in the BBC Two programme James May's Man Lab Christmas Special.

Wine career

While performing in Sheila Hancock's Dandy Dick, he joined the

Sunday Express as their first wine writer. He then became wine correspondent of The Daily Telegraph
.

In 1982, Clarke won the last World Wine Tasting Championship, a wine tasting event that has not been repeated since then.[6]

Clarke has written several award-winning books, and is generally regarded as the New World champion who led Britain's wine revolution in the 1990s and 2000s,[7] but he is also a passionate supporter of the Old World classics, in particular Bordeaux wine. Clarke has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, including Food and Drink, the long-running BBC Food show, for which he became well known in the UK for his stint as the wine expert alongside Jilly Goolden, and A Question of Taste and The Wine Programme for BBC Radio 4. He made three successful BBC TV series with James May: Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure in France and California, and Oz and James Drink to Britain.[8] The comedian Hugh Dennis was later brought into this concept as Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas was broadcast in 2009, and the later series, Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar, was broadcast over the Christmas period in 2010.

Clarke stated in Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure that he was banned from the

Champagne region
of France in the 1990s for having made statements suggesting that champagne was deteriorating in value while rising in price.

In November 2008 a survey by the wine industry consultancy firm

French Government
.

Oz Clarke's writing is now published by

app for use on Apple's iPhone and iPad
, through Anova Digital: Oz Clarke's Best Wines 2011 and Oz Clarke's Xmas Wines.

In October 2018 his new book Red & White was published by Little, Brown and Company and he embarked on promotional book tour[11][12]

Personal life

He is a cousin of Irish journalist and broadcaster Olivia O'Leary.[citation needed]

In a 2019 interview, Clarke revealed he was married, with a 3-year-old daughter, his only child.[13]

Selected bibliography

Honours and awards

  • Youngest ever British Wine Taster of the Year 1973
  • Captain of victorious England Wine Tasters Team 1980
  • World Wine Tasting Championship winner, 1982
  • Wine Magazine Book of the Year 1984
  • Wine Guild of the United Kingdom Wine Writer 1984 (Webster's Wine Guide), 1989 (Sainsbury's Book of Wine), 1992 (New Classic Wines)
  • Winner of the International World Wine Tasting Championships, Los Angeles
  • Glenfiddich
    Drink Award 1983 (journalism), 1989 (journalism), 1992 (New Classic Wines)
  • André Simon Drink Book Award 1992 (New Classic Wines)
  • James Beard
    Wine & Spirits Award 1992 (New Classic Wines)
  • Julia Child Cookbook Award (Wine, Beer & Spirits) 1996 (Oz Clarke's Wine Atlas)
  • Le Prix Lanson 1997 (Wine Guide CD-ROM)
  • Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Special Millennium Award 1999 (for outstanding contribution to wine education and communication during previous decade)
  • Jacob's Creek Silver Ladle 1999 (Wine Guide CD-ROM)
  • Le Prix Lanson Wine Book of the Year 2002 (Grapes & Wines)
  • Special Millennium Award, Le Prix du Champagne Lanson 1999
  • Le Prix Lanson Annual Wine Guide of the Year 2004 (Pocket Wine Book)
  • International Wine & Spirit Competition Communicator of the Year 2006
  • Roederer
    International Wine Book of the Year 2009 for Bordeaux
  • International Wine Challenge Personality of the Year Award 2009: Oz Clarke and James May
  • Gourmand Award for Wine Literature 2009 (Oz and James Drink to Britain)
  • TRIC award for TV Arts/Documentary programme 2010 (Oz Clarke and James Drink to Britain TV series)
  • Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole
    2010

Clarke was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and journalism.[14]

See also

  • List of wine personalities

References

  1. ^ a b Jefford, Andrew (August 2008). "Oz Clarke". Waitrose Food Illustrated. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  2. ^ "My Best Teacher;Interview;Oz Clarke - Resources - TES". Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  3. ^ "The Oz Clarke Interview | Wine-Searcher News & Features". Wine-Searcher. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  4. ^ McNeill, Karen, People to Know: Oz Clarke, retrieved 19 February 2022
  5. ^ Manchester Evening News
  6. ^ "Fine Wine And Perfume Experience – London – Vins Extraordinaires". vinsextraordinaires.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  7. ^ Manchester Evening News
  8. ^ BBC Press Office (24 April 2008). BBC Two announces Oz and James's next adventure
  9. ^ Peskett, Stuart, Decanter.com (11 November 2008). "Oz Clarke is UK's best-known wine writer: official".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Robinson, Jancis, jancisrobinson.com (14 November 2008). "How influential are wine writers?". Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Oz Clarke – Oz Clarke's 'Red and White' book tour". ozclarke.com. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Is it possible to talk about wine without sounding like a prat? – The Spectator". 6 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  13. ^ msmarmitelover (12 February 2019). "Drinking with Oz Clarke". msmarmitelover.com. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  14. ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N11.

External links