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Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born April 11 , 1960 in Doncaster ) is an English writer and broadcaster who specialises in motoring issues. He writes weekly columns for '' The Sunday Times '' and '' The Sun '', but is most associated with the BBC motoring programme '' Top Gear '', which he presented from 1989 until 1999 , and then again from 2002 onwards. The show has 350 million viewers worldwide and won an International Emmy in 2005 . "Not a man given to considered opinion," according to the BBC, {Link without Title} Clarkson is known to be forthright in his views. BIOGRAPHY Clarkson was educated at toys, after which he trained as a journalist with the ''Rotherham Advertiser''. {Link without Title} In 1984 , he combined his writing skills with his love of cars, and together with a business partner, Jonathan Gill, formed the Motoring Press Agency (later MPA Fingal), conducting road tests on behalf of local newspapers, and writing for specialist car magazines such as ''Performance Car'' from 1986 until 1993 . He married his agent Frances Catherine Cain on 8 May 1993 , and they have three children, Emily, Finlo, and Katya. The family lives in the Cotswolds near Chipping Norton , Oxfordshire , and also has a home on the Isle Of Man — where his wife comes from — described by Clarkson in 2004 as "a thorn in the side of Tony Blair 's nanny state," because of its lack of an upper speed limit. His wife's father, Major Robert Henry Cain , was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 . When Clarkson presented a documentary about the Victoria Cross, he highlighted the story of Major Cain, only revealing at the end that he had married Cain's daughter, and that she didn't know her father had won a VC until after his death. During a 2004 episode of the BBC's '' Who Do You Think You Are? '', Clarkson was invited to investigate his family history, including the story of his great-great-great grandfather, John Kilner (1792–1857), who invented the Kilner Jar , a receptacle for preserved fruit. {Link without Title} TELEVISION CAREER DVD cover]] Clarkson is most associated with the motoring programme '' Top Gear '', which he presented from 1989-99, and then again from 2002, when it was relaunched in a new format after a brief period off the air. It is now consistently the most watched show on BBC Two , with 350 million viewers around the world, winning an International Emmy in 2005 for best non-scripted entertainment show not in the U.S. To which Jeremy proclaimed "I didn't attend the awards ceremony because I didn't know we had won and only found out after a 4am text message, and I was busy writing the script for the next show...." Clarkson continues to release annual motoring based videos, his first being 'Clarkson - Unleashed on cars' in 1996. Over the years, his videos have seen him driving many exotic cars, including a Ford GT40 which had been specially adapted to accommodate taller drivers (Clarkson is 6'5"=1.96m). He is also known for destroying his most hated cars in various ways including catapulting a Nissan Sunny using a Trebuchet , dropping a Porsche 911 onto a caravan and shooting a Chevrolet Corvette with a Gatling Gun attached to an airborne helicopter. He has also presented other motoring-related series such as ''Star Cars'', ''Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld'', and ''Jeremy Clarkson's Car Years''. For a short while, Jeremy had his own chat show; 'Clarkson', where he is most notable for offending the Welsh by placing a 3D plastic map of Wales into a microwave oven and switching it on. He later defended this by saying "I put Wales in there because Scotland wouldn't fit". Similarly, he offended Americans by removing the map of the USA and renaming the resultant space the 'South Canada Sea'. After the dismissal of Angus Deayton , Clarkson was one of a number of guest hosts recruited to present the topical panel show '' Have I Got News For You ''. He was the first such host never to have previously been a guest of the programme. To date he has hosted three episodes and been a guest once. ENGINEERING INTERESTS Clarkson is interested in Engineering , especially pioneering work, as his television programmes about Brunel and the Colossus Computer have shown. Clarkson was awarded an Honorary Degree from Brunel University on September 12 , 2003 , partly because of his work in popularising engineering, and partly because of his advocacy of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 100 Greatest Britons programme. In April 2004, he appeared on the talk show '', quite aside from the sadness they felt for the loss of human life, there was almost a sadness for the machine. The book, titled '' I Know You Got Soul '', was published in October 2004 . Clarkson owns various cars including Ford's latest supercar, the Ford GT , a Mercedes SLK 55 AMG , a Volvo XC90 , and a Ford Focus . His experiences with his Ford GT are well documented, having had many issues with the satellite tracker/alarm system - he reported that it would tell him the car had been stolen even when he was driving it. As a result of what he called "the most miserable month's motoring possible", he returned it to Ford for a full refund. After a short period, including asking ''Top Gear'' fans for advice over the internet, he bought back his GT. He also owned a Ferrari 355 for a short while. This was sold to make way for an SL 55 AMG, itself later replaced with a SLK 55 AMG. CONTROVERSY [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4235742.stm ]] Clarkson has often been the focus of controversy. His comments on various subjects have caused offence to many; whether he believes all he espouses or if he is acting as a professional controversialist is hard to judge, as his tone as an entertainment figure seems permanently tongue-in-cheek. In October 1998, Hyundai cars complained to the BBC about what they described as "bigoted and racist" comments he made at the Motor Show in Birmingham , when he was reported as saying that the people working on the Hyundai stand had eaten a dog, and that the designer of the Hyundai XG had probably had a Spaniel for his lunch. He also allegedly referred to those working on the BMW stand as " Nazis ". {Link without Title} One of the most infamous comments occurred during the filming of a ''Top Gear'' episode featuring the Vauxhall Vectra. It is alleged, even to this day, that Clarkson single-handedly destroyed both the Vectra and the Vauxhall reputation. Ironically, officials from General Motors, who own Vauxhall, invited Clarkson to the launch of the much improved Vectra, although it is not known whether he attended. Another incident occurred when he tried to prove that a Vauxhall could be driven from the back seat, eventually crashing. When asked where he was when the car crashed, he replied, "in the back seat". In one episode, he went so far as to dump nearly half a ton of manure on a Vauxhall van during the annual Top Gear Car Of The Year awards. In the ''Sunday Times'' on June 2 , 2002 he said he had spent the day hunting Rat s using tennis racquets and croquet mallets. The RSPCA issued a warning to him as a result of this comment. Clarkson's views on cyclists and promotion of motoring have caused concern among cycling and road-safety organisations. Transport 2000 have called for ''Top Gear'' to be replaced by a more safety and environmentally aware motoring programme. In February 2004, Clarkson rammed a 30-year-old Horse Chestnut tree with a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck to demonstrate how rugged the vehicle was. This led to the BBC having to compensate the local parish council who, until they saw the ''Top Gear'' broadcast, thought that the damage had been caused by local vandals. He has had a long-running public feud with --> In 2005, the School of Technology at Oxford Brookes University awarded him an honorary engineering doctorate, leading to protests from green organizations, who objected to his statements on the environment and his advocacy of car use. He has said: "I do have a disregard for the environment. I think the world can look after itself and we should enjoy it as best we can". After the ceremony, he was hit in the face with a banana meringue pie by a protester. {Link without Title} Clarkson took the pie on the chin and commented that it had too much sugar. In September 2005, Clarkson wrote an editorial for '' The Sun '' criticising Americans after the Hurricane Katrina rescue response, and included the comment: "most Americans barely have the brains to walk on their back legs." Clarkson has spurred another controversy in his capacity as a presenter for BBC2 's Top Gear . During the 13 November 2005 episode a news segment featuring BMW's MINI Concept from the Tokyo Motor Show showcased what fellow presenter Richard Hammond quoted as a "quintessentially British" integrated tea set. Clarkson responded by mocking that the German designed-and-owned MINI Cooper should be fitted with "a quintessentially German... sat-nav that only goes to Poland" in reference to the Nazi invasion of Poland that started WWII, and saying " fan belt will last a thousand years," a reference to Adolf Hitler's propaganda slogan of "the thousand-year Reich". These statements gained negative attention in the British and German news media. The matter was not helped by national publications (in both Britain and Germany) quoting Clarkson out of context which to the misinformed would put Clarkson in a racist light. Here is an example of such an article: [http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=2408932005 TRIVIA
SEE ALSO
WORKS Non-motoring shows
Videos Clarkson has produced the following:
Books
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