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Biography
Michael Maclear (1929 – December 25, 2018) was an award-winning Anglo-Canadian journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former correspondent for various CBC programs and for CTV's W5. He is the great-great-grand-nephew of South African astronomer Sir Thomas Maclear.
Born in London, UK in 1929, Maclear moved to Canada in 1954 and joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation the next year. As a foreign correspondent for CBC (1961–1971) and the CTV Television Network, he travelled to more than 80 countries.
Maclearmadeseveralwartimevisitsto NorthVietnam(1969-1970-1972) forCBCandlaterforCTV,thefirstWesternTVcorrespondent grantedadmissiontotheNorth.In1963 asCBC'sFarEast correspondentbasedinJapanhemarriedYoko(Mariko)Koide,a newsresearcherwhosecontactswiththenewsfilmagency NihonDenpaNewsanditsHanoibureaumadepossiblea seriesofexclusivereportsalsoairedbyCBS,NBCandsyndicated byThe New York Times.Subsequently,Yoko'scontactswerekey toobtainingHanoi'smilitaryarchivesforthe13- hourtelevision history"Vietnam:The10,000DayWar,"whichMaclear independentlyproducedin1980.
He received numerous awards, including an ACTRA Award for Best Broadcaster, three Gemini Awards, and the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association's Personal Achievement Award. In 2004, he won the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at Hot Docs, an annual documentary film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, where he was also honoured with a 13-film retrospective.
His daughter, Kyo Maclear, wrote the novel The Letter Opener, published in Canada by Harper Collins in 2007. Michael Maclear has two grandsons, Yoshia and Mika.
Selected filmography
- Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War (1980), producer
- The Canadians (1988), writer and executive producer, for CTV
- America at War (2004), director
Selected publications
- The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam, 1945-1975 (1981, Methuen; ISBN 0-458-95170-6)
- Guerrilla Nation: My Wars in and Out of Vietnam (2013, Dundurn Press ISBN 978-1-45970-940-9)