BRIAN CLEEVE

Born in Essex, England, Brian Cleeve was the son of an Irish-Canadian father and an English mother. He grew up largely in boarding schools, finishing his education at Oxford from which he ran away at age 17 to go to sea. He worked in a variety of jobs for the next fifteen years, including a private soldier. During WWII he was commissioned in the Royal Army and sent to Kenya but when he objected to the treatment of a prisoner he was court-martialed and spent time in prison in Yorkshire. He was offered a chance at parole if he would work with British Intelligence and the last days of the War saw him in that capacity in Portugal and Spain. After the War he married and moved to South Africa for work but after several years of protesting apartheid, he was ejected. Heading to Ireland, he begane a new career in the television business as a producer, writer, and presenter.