- Though relatively sparse of output, he was acclaimed as an exponent of social realism and as one of the most literary of film makers. Virtually all of his films were adapted from classic novels.
- Directed 4 actors to Oscar nominations: Laurence Harvey (Best Actor, Room at the Top (1958)), Simone Signoret (Best Actress, Room at the Top (1958)), Hermione Baddeley (Best Supporting Actress, Room at the Top (1958)), and Anne Bancroft (Best Actress, The Pumpkin Eater (1964)). Signoret won an Oscar for her performance.
- Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1983.
- Jack Clayton was Associate Producer on 'Beat the Devil' (John Huston). During the film, Bernard Lee ('M' in the early Bond films) is introduced as 'Jack Clayton', a policeman from England.
- His works have been widely admired and praised by leading film critics like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert, and by film industry peers including Harold Pinter, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, François Truffaut, Tennessee Williams and Steven Spielberg.
- Described himself as an "ex-Catholic".
- Joined the British Army as a tea-boy at the age of 15.
- During World War II, he served as photographer with the Royal Air Force Film Unit. His first experience as director was filming the short documentary 'Naples is a Battlefield' (1944).
- Clayton wrote to Alexander Korda at Denham studios and was taken on as a tea boy. From there, he worked his way up the ladder to third assistant director. His next job was in the editing department of Warner Brothers. After the war, he served in wide range of capacities, from second unit director to production manager, producer and (eventually, from 1956) as director. His first short feature film, 'The Bespoke Overcoat', garnered awards in Edinburgh and Venice and won him an Academy Award.
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 224-227. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
- He was due to direct The L Shaped Room but due to private problems he backed out and was replaced by Brian Forbes,.
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