Latest news with #JonathanLloyd
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Frederick Forsyth, former spy and Day of the Jackal author, dies aged 86
Best-selling British novelist Frederick Forsyth, author of about 20 spy thrillers, has died at the age of 86. Forsyth, who was a reporter and informant for Britain's MI6 spy agency before turning his hand to writing blockbuster novels like The Day of the Jackal, died on Monday at his home in the village of Jordans in Buckinghamshire, said Jonathan Lloyd, his agent. 'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers,' Lloyd said of the author, who started writing novels to clear his debts in his early 30s, going on to sell more than 75 million books. 'There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank,' he said in his 2015 autobiography, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue. The gamble paid off after he penned The Day of the Jackal – his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French President Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists – in just 35 days. The novel met immediate success when it came out in 1971. It was later turned into a film and led to Venezuelan revolutionary Illich Ramirez Sanchez being nicknamed Carlos the Jackal. Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers, including The Odessa File (1972) and The Dogs of War (1974). His 18th novel, The Fox, was published in 2018. Forsyth trained as an air force pilot, but his linguistic talents – he spoke French, German, Spanish and Russian – led him to the Reuters news agency in 1961 with postings in Paris and East Berlin during the Cold War. He left Reuters for the BBC but soon became disillusioned by its bureaucracy and what he saw as the corporation's failure to cover Nigeria properly due to the government's postcolonial views on Africa. His autobiography revealed how he became a spy, the author recounting that he was approached by 'Ronnie' from MI6 in 1968, who wanted 'an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave' in Nigeria, where civil war had broken out the year before. In 1973, Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany, driving his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum. The writer said he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with his book research and submitted draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information. In his later years, Forsyth turned his attention to politics, delivering withering, right-wing takes on the modern world in columns for the anti-European Union Daily Express. Divorced from Carole Cunningham in 1988, he married Sandy Molloy in 1994. He lost a fortune in an investment scam in the 1980s and had to write more novels to support himself. He had two sons, Stuart and Shane, with his first wife.
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86
Frederick Forsyth, who used his early experience as a British foreign correspondent as fodder for a series of swashbuckling, best-selling thrillers in the 1970s, including 'The Day of the Jackal,' 'The Odessa File' and 'The Dogs of War,' died on Monday at his home in Jordans, a village north of London. He was 86. His literary representative, Jonathan Lloyd, did not specify a cause, saying only that the death followed a short illness. Mr. Forsyth was a master of the geopolitical nail-biter, writing novels embedded in an international demimonde populated by spies, mercenaries and political extremists. He wrote 24 books, including 14 novels, and sold more than 75 million copies. Though he set many of his best works during the Cold War of the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Forsyth often chose stories and characters operating apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, in post-colonial conflicts in Africa, for example, or involving Nazi hunters in Europe. His novel 'The Fourth Protocol' (1984), which many critics considered his best, offered a twisting tale of nuclear espionage and radical-left politics in Britain. His books regularly topped the best-seller lists, and many were turned into movies within a few years of their debut. A film version of 'The Day of the Jackal,' starring Michael Lonsdale, appeared in 1973, just two years after the novel's publication; a second movie version, with Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier, was released in 1997 as 'The Jackal.' (A television series based on the novel, starring Eddie Redmayne, aired last year.) Mr. Forsyth came by his subjects through firsthand experience. Eschewing college after high school, he joined the Royal Air Force, where he flew fighter jets. He then worked as a reporter for Reuters; at one point, he covered the attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle of France by far-right militants angry over the country's withdrawal from Algeria. It was an event that he fictionalized to great effect in 'The Day of the Jackal,' which followed, in minute detail, the preparations of an elusive assassin and the French government's efforts to stop him. In 1965, Mr. Forsyth moved to the BBC, where he covered a civil war in Nigeria between the central, dictatorial government and the breakaway state of Biafra. In 2015, he revealed that while in Africa he also worked as an informant for British intelligence. His reporting on Biafra led to two books, the nonfiction 'The Biafran Story' (1969) and 'The Dogs of War' (1974), about a group of mercenaries hired by a shady international consortium to stage a coup against a resources-rich African country. Mr. Forsyth was politically conservative, and supported the Brexit campaign to leave the European Union in 2016. This is a developing story. A complete obituary will follow. Sopan Deb contributed reporting.
North Wales Chronicle
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
The Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86
The best-selling author was known for a number of crime thrillers, including The Day of the Jackal, which was recently adapted into a Sky TV series. He was described as "one of the world's greatest thriller writers", in a tribute. He was surrounded by his family as he died at home on Monday morning. A statement by Jonathan Lloyd, Forsyth's agent, said: 'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers. 'Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life – In My Own Words, to be released later this year on BBC1 – and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived. 'After serving as one of the youngest ever RAF pilots, he turned to journalism, using his gift for languages in German, French and Russian to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra. 'Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a secret service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel, The Day of the Jackal (1972), and instantly became a global bestselling author. 'He went on to write more than 25 books (many of which were made into films) that have sold over 75 million copies. 'He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world – though his books will of course live on forever.' Forsyth was born in Kent, and was best known for various crime thriller novels, such as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. He has sold millions of copies of his books and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours list for services to literature. Recommended reading: Liam Gallagher apologises to fans after 'big announcement' this morning Richard Madeley presents Good Morning Britain in cast after 'double fracture' Gogglebox fans 'so sorry' as Channel 4 stars announce 'heartbreaking' death Forsyth has been married twice, first to former model Carole Cunningham between 1973 and 1988, and then to Sandy Molloy since 1994 until her death in 1994. Forsyth previously resided in a manor house in Hertfordshire before moving to Buckinghamshire in 2010. He is survived by two sons, Stuart and Shane, whom he had with Cunningham.
CTV News
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Day of the Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies at 86
LONDON — Frederick Forsyth, the author of 'The Day of the Jackal' and other bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness, his literary agent said Monday. He was 86. Jonathan Lloyd, his agent, said Forsyth died at home early Monday surrounded by his family. 'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers,' Lloyd said. Forsyth served as a Royal Air Force pilot before becoming a foreign correspondent and a novelist. 'The Day of the Jackal,' published in 1971, propelled him into global fame. The political thriller about a professional assassin was made into a film in 1973 and more recently a television series starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. He wrote more than 25 books including 'The Afghan,' 'The Kill List,' and 'The Fist of God' that have sold over 75 million copies, Lloyd said.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
'Day of the Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies at 86
Frederick Forsyth, the British author of 'The Day of the Jackal" and other bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness, his literary agent said Monday. He was 86. Jonathan Lloyd, his agent, said Forsyth died at home early Monday surrounded by his family. 'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers," Lloyd said. Forsyth served as a Royal Air Force pilot before becoming a foreign correspondent and a novelist. In 2015, he told the BBC that he had also worked for the British intelligence agency MI6 for many years, starting from when he covered a civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s. 'The Day of the Jackal,' published in 1971, propelled him into global fame. The political thriller about a professional assassin was made into a film in 1973 and more recently a television series starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. He wrote more than 25 books including 'The Afghan,' 'The Kill List,' 'The Dogs of War" and 'The Fist of God" that have sold over 75 million copies, Lloyd said. His publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, said that 'Revenge of Odessa,' a sequel to the 1974 book 'The Odessa File" that Forsyth worked on with fellow thriller author Tony Kent, will be published in August.
