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Julian Clary

English comedian, actor, presenter and novelist

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ6307060
Source-derived summary

Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has also acted in films, on television and in stage productions, including numerous pantomimes. He was the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in 2012.

Early life and education

Clary was born on 25 May 1959 in Surbiton, Surrey, to Brenda (née McDonald) Clary, a probation officer, and Peter J. Clary, a police officer. He was brought up in Teddington, Middlesex, with two older sisters. By his own account, he was conceived "in broad daylight" in Clacton-on-Sea in 1958. Two of his great-grandparents were Germans who had immigrated to Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. He and his siblings were raised as Roman Catholics. He attended St Benedict's School, Ealing, and, later, he studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths' College, University of London.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Julian Clary” as english comedian, actor, presenter and novelist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Julian, Clary and English.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1959, 2012, 1958—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1959-05-25. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Julian, Clary and English providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Julian Clary”, the useful work is to connect “english comedian, actor, presenter and novelist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6307060. VIAF identifies the subject as 76046161. The Library of Congress control number is no2005037497. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959, 2012 and 1958.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Julian Clary”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Julian Clary primary sources, Julian Clary archive and Julian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Julian Clary”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Julian Clary” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.