Clive Scott was born in Parkview, Johannesburg on 4th July 1937 as Robert Clive Cleghorn, but grew up and went to school in Springs. Following the death of his father, his mother and he went to live in Cape Town, where he became lead chorister at St George's Cathedral. He spent five years working in banking (two of which were in Salisbury, Rhodesia), but became disillusioned and decided to spend three months in Britain. He ended up staying for twelve years and studied at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Thereafter, he underwent an apprenticeship in various repertory theatres all around Britain.

Along with almost everyone else in the profession, he did a stint - in 1965 - in The Mousetrap (Agatha Christie's record-breaking play that has been running in London's West End without a break since November 1952 - Clive described it as "the worst play in the world") and a number of films, including an infamous one from the James Bond director, Guy Hamilton — The Party's Over (1966). This movie, which concerned an American girl coming to London and getting mixed up with a gang of hooligans, met with considerable resistance from censors and was not widely released at the time. Today it has been the subject of a significant reappraisal and has been made available on Blu-ray and DVD by the British Film Institute.

Among Clive's other feature film appearances are Battle of Britain (1969), The Winner (1973), Killer Force (1975) and Traitor's Heart (1999). Clive Scott joined other former South African radio favourites in Operation Delta Force II: Mayday, a 1998 TV movie, also featuring Annabel Linder and Brian O'Shaughnessy. Also on television, he appeared as Linwood in the first episode of the Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil, which was made in 1970 and transmitted in January 1971. His earliest British television appearance had been in the ABC-TV play, The Last Coach, directed by Alan Cook.

In late 1970, Clive returned to South Africa, where he soon became one of the country's best-loved comic actors. On television, he was among the cast of The Villagers alongside Gordon Mulholland, the series that was the first English drama on the fledgling SABC-TV service launched in January 1976. On the stage, Clive appeared in Till Debts Us Do Part, a 1985 production hosted by the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town. He has also appeared as Fancourt Babberly in a production of Charley's Aunt, which was directed by fellow Avengers guest players, Gordon Mulholland and Hal Orlandini. Clive rates this show as one of the most enjoyable he has worked on.

Many of Clive's theatrical ventures were in partnership with his close friend Gordon Mulholland.

Outside his acting career, Clive writes, lectures in esoteric studies, is a masseur and healer and runs a meditation group. Remarkably, he still finds time for acting! In recent years, he has appeared in the popular SABC3 soap opera Isidingo: The Need (now just Isidingo) as Ted Dixon. He has two children, Luke and Gudrun.

by Beverly Charpentier with Alan Hayes