The Famous Faces of Clan Cameron

We are going to begin with one of the greatest film directors of the last 100 years, James Cameron. The Canadian director has written and directed some of the most famous movies of all time including Terminator, the Titanic, Aliens and one of my personal favourites, Avatar.

You would think James’s dream was always to be involved in movies but no, he actually studied physics at university. So how did James go from physics to making fantastic alien movies? He dropped out of university and became a truckdriver to fund his ambition until he got his first gig on the set of the cult classic Battle Beyond the Stars.

This was just the beginning for James as he then began to write his own film which you might have heard of, Terminator! On a low budget with relatively unknown actors James’s directorial debut was a hit success becoming one of the most successful movies of the 1980’s with phrases that are still quoted to this day such as, “I’ll be back”. And James was back and his success never stopped. He went on to write a little-known movie, the Titanic, that caught the imagination of the world and shone the light on his directing and writing skills. There is one plot hole that we have to talk about, and you know what I am about to say....Leonardo DiCaprio was a skinny guy at that time so surely he could have fitted onto that extremely large piece of wood?

Anyway, back to James, he delved back into the genre that he built his career on, aliens. For 10 years James wrote and directed Avatar, the highest grossing movie ever. This movie changed cinema forever as it pioneered 3D film technology. Who doesn’t remember the day they saw Avatar? 7-year-old me even had to leave the cinema because it was too real! This was James' most recent movie for which he received 3 Oscars but he better hurry up with the second movie because its almost been 13 years.

Now to another man who influenced American culture but for different reasons. Simon Cameron was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania and went on to be the American Secretary of War during the American Civil War. Simon didn’t have an easy start to life as at the age of 9 he was orphaned and forced to begin work early as an apprentice printer. Whilst working as a printer he became interested in journalism and soon became a journeyman moving around local newspapers until he earned enough money to make his own newspaper.

Cameron's Harrisburg Republican paper had great success becoming the state printer for his home state of Pennsylvania. There he saw a quick route into politics as his power within this state was so high. The beginning of his political career was fast moving as he began as a Democrat then switched to the Know Nothing Party, then quickly switched to the Republican Party. Whilst changing parties his views on the most important issue in America was the same, slavery must be abolished.

This brought him into favour with Abraham Lincoln who made him Secretary of War at the beginning of the Civil War. But soon his monetary ambition overtook him, and Cameron was accused of corruption throughout the war. Lincoln was forced to sack him, and he was made the minister to Russia. After this scandal Simon stayed in the senate until 1877 when his son took over his position.

From an American politician to a British one. David Cameron is a career long politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. David began his political career following his education at Oxford under the tenure of the then PM John Major. 6 years later his true political career began as the MP for Witney. From here he had the goal to change the conservative party to a more socially liberal party and soon he gained leadership of the party. After the financial crash David became head of the coalition government following the 2010 general election.

After looking at politicians for a while I think it’s time to have a look Cameron's who are, quite literally, a bit more rock and roll. Matt Cameron is an American drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Matt was born and raised in San Diego, California and immediately had a love for music. By the age of 13 he was in a band trying to perfect his art doing Kiss covers but unfortunately Paul Stanley, a member of Kiss was in the crowd. Paul decided to force legal action against the kids and the band had to give up, which wasn't exactly in the rock and roll spirit.

However Matt never gave up on his dream and many years later he landed himself in the world-famous band Soundgarden. The band went on to win two Grammys for their debut album Badmotorfinger, a very odd album name I must admit. In true rock and roll fashion the band came to blows in 1998 and they decided to call it quits. Luckily for Matt another massive band at the time, Pearl Jam, were looking for a drummer to tour with and on late notice Matt learned over 80 songs in two weeks. With Pearl Jam he produced 11 studio albums all achieving great success. This success was recognised by Rolling stone as they recently ranked him in the “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time”!

Now to the legend of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, the Ulysses of the Highlands and latterly the wolf of Lochaber. According to legend, Ewan faced off with the last wolf in the British Isles and killed it with his sheer strength and ferocity. After this, when Sir Ewan became chief he made the strong decision to move the seat of the clan from Tor castle to the newly built Achnacarry castle.

Sir Ewen had a genius strategic mind and built the castle between Loch Lochy and Loch Arkaig. This position helped them end the 350-year war between themselves and the Mackintosh's at the Stand-off at the Fords of Arkaig. Sir Ewan used the lochs to his advantage and surprised the opposing forces. The two armies were prepared to face off with guns, bows and swords but Ewan saw a separate solution and after a week’s debate a diplomatic resolution was found. Throughout all of these events, Ewan remained loyal to the Stuarts, fighting for them in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the Jacobite rising I and II. For his loyalty, he was awarded the Lordship of Lochiel!