Beginning his career at the age of fourteen touring in rep, he went on to star on the West End stage, in plays such as Absurd Person Singular, The Wizard of Oz, Under Milk Wood, The Bandwagon at the Mermaid Theatre, The Winslow Boy, Young Woodley and Life with Father.

As a character actor he appeared in comic and straight acting roles in films, such as The Italian Job,[3] Yellow Submarine, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, A Clockwork Orange[4] and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

He continued to find work on the stage, appearing in West End productions of Absurd Person Singular, Under Milk Wood, The Winslow Boy, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

[3][12] His television appearances also included Robert's Robots, Rising Damp, The Dick Emery Show, The Perils of Pendragon, The Sweeney, Great Expectations and The History of Mr Polly.

[14] Other fictional titles written by Clive followed including Ark co-written with Nicholas Headin, in 1986[18] which also received good reviews[14] and The Lions' Cage which was published in 1988.

[1] In 2021, his daughter appeared on the BBC TV show The Repair Shop, to which she brought a model of the yellow submarine by Corgi Toys.