Chris Claremont was born November 30, 1950 in London, England. He began his career in comics at Marvel with the title Iron Fist in 1974, and later went on to write stories for The Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Excalibur. Claremont currently holds the record for the longest run of any writer on one series in consecutive years. He wrote Uncanny X-Men for 16 years from 1976 through 1991. During this time he was considered one of the best at writing comics that involve teams because he would give each person on that team a moment to shine. Claremont was also best known for his excellent stories with strong heroes (particularly female characters) and villains, including entertaining and imaginative action sequences, while mixing in a soap opera atmosphere of drama.