Sir Clement Raphael Freud (born April 24, 1924) is a British writer, broadcaster and politician.
Freud was born in Berlin, a grandson of psychoanalyist Sigmund Freud and brother of artist Lucian Freud. Sir Clement married his wife Jill in 1950, with whom he has five children including broadcaster Emma Freud. He attended St. Paul's School. During the Second World War he was an aide to Field Marshal Montgomery.
Clement Freud was Liberal MP for the Isle of Ely (later North-East Cambridgeshire) from 1973 to 1987. His departure from Parliament was marked by a knighthood.
During his time as a Member of Parliament he visited China with a delegation of other MPs including Winston Churchill, a grandson of the wartime leader of the same name. Freud noticed that the Communist Chinese hosts regularly gave Churchill larger, or higher status, accommodation than him. Tactfully he enquired why and was told it was because of the status of Churchill's namesake. Freud observed that this was the first time ever that he had been 'out-grandfathered'.
He was already a celebrity before he went into politics, and was a well-known face from dog food adverts, in which he co-starred with a bloodhound called Lucy (though played by a number of dogs) which shared his trademark "hangdog" expression. Freud performed a small monologue for the Wings album Band on the Run, and appears on the album's cover. He is now best known as a panellist on the radio programme Just a Minute, where his deadpan delivery is popular with audiences but his determination to win gets mixed responses from other participants. In 2002, he was elected Rector of St Andrews University.
Last updated: 10-10-2005 10:27:23