James Clavell is most known as the best-selling author of epic, historical novels ("Tai Pan," "Shogun" "Noble House"), and as a screenwriter and director in the US beginning in 1953. One of his more notable films as a director is the British-produced, "To Sir, With Love" (1967). Clavell's novel "King Rat," based on his experiences in a WWII Japanese prison camp, was effectively brought to the screen in 1965 by another versatile talent, Bryan Forbes and most of his other novels have been filmed or made into TV mini-series.