Ian La Frenais

Biography

Ian La Frenais (born January 7, 1937) is a distinguished English screenwriter and producer, best known for his enduring and highly successful creative partnership with Dick Clement. Over a career spanning more than five decades, the duo created some of the most iconic and beloved series in British television history before successfully transitioning to film and American television.

Biography and Partnership

Born in Monkseaton, Northumberland, La Frenais initially worked as a salesman and for a market research company before his writing career took off. He met Dick Clement, an Essex native, in London, and the two quickly began collaborating, marking the start of one of the most celebrated writing partnerships in British entertainment.

La Frenais was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007 for his services to film and television. He is married to artist Doris Vartan, the mother of actor Michael Vartan.

Defining Career Works

The partnership of Clement and La Frenais is renowned for creating comedies that mixed naturalistic dialogue, strong characterization, and keen social observation, often focusing on working-class life.

Iconic Television Series

The Likely Lads (1964–1966) and its sequel, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–1974)The series that launched their career, focusing on the changing lives and friendship of two young men from Newcastle.

Porridge (1974–1977): A hugely popular and critically acclaimed sitcom set in a prison, starring Ronnie Barker as the cunning inmate Norman Stanley Fletcher. It spawned the sequel series Going Straight.

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–2004): A drama-comedy about a group of unemployed construction workers from northern England who travel to Germany to find work.

Lovejoy (1986–1994): Created by La Frenais (and later joined by Clement), this long-running series centered on an antique dealer with a roguish streak.

Notable Film and US Work

Clement and La Frenais successfully transitioned to screenwriting for the big screen, contributing to films in both the UK and Hollywood, and even doing uncredited script doctoring work on major studio pictures.

The Commitments (1991): Their film adaptation of Roddy Doyle's novel about a Dublin soul band won them the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Still Crazy (1998): A film about a fictional 1970s rock band reuniting, which earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy).

Across the Universe (2007): A musical film based on the songs of The Beatles.

The Bank Job (2008): A critically well-received heist film.

US Television: They spent four years as writers and supervising producers on the HBO comedy series Tracey Takes On... in the 1990s, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for their work.

The video Chasing Bono: Writers Ian La Frenais & Dick Clement discusses the latest work by Ian La Frenais and his writing partner, Di