Len Deighton

Full Name: Leonard Cyril Deighton

Date of Birth: 18 February 1929

Place of Birth: Marylebone, London, England

Biography

Deighton worked as a railway clerk before his National Service in the RAF as a photographer for the Special Investigation Branch.

Discharged in 1949, he attended St Martin's College of Art and then the Royal College of Art on a scholarship. During the evenings, he worked as a waiter.

Later, he wrote an animated cookery strip in the Observer and has written two cookery books. He worked as an illustrator in New York and an art director for a London advertising agency.

He moved to the Dordogne where he wrote the spy thriller, 'The Ipcress File' which was published in 1962. The novel was made into a movie three years later, with Michael Caine playing the main character, Harry Palmer (although the character was not given a name in the novel).

Since then, he has written many books: spy thrillers, war novels, histories and cookery books. Several of his books were made into movies, including 'Only When I Larf' about three confidence tricksters, as well as the Harry Palmer movies.

In the 1980s, he wrote the Samson stories, which eventually reached a total of ten books (eight from the point of view of Bernard Samson, one which told the story surrounding his wife Fiona, and 'Winter' which features relatives of the main characters, including Bernards' father, Brian. The first of the three novels were turned into a TV series.

In the 1990s, Deighton wrote several TV Movie scripts which reprised Harry Palmer (played again by Michael Caine), including 'Bullet to Beijing'. He has also produced a number of films.

Deighton lived in Portugal in the 1990s but now lives in California.

Books Writen

• 1962    The Ipcress File
• 1963    Horse Under Water
• 1964    Funeral in Berlin
• 1966    Billion Dollar Brain
• 1967    An Expensive Place to Die
• 1968    Only When I Larf
• 1970    Bomber
• 1971    Declarations Of War
• 1972    Close-Up
• 1973    Spy Story
• 1975    Yesterday's Spy
• 1976    Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy
• 1977    Fighter: The True Story Of The Battle Of Britain
• 1978    SS-GB
• 1981    XPD
• 1982    Goodbye Mickey Mouse
• 1983    Berlin Game
• 1984    Mexico Set
• 1985    London Match
• 1987    Winter: A Berlin Family 1899-1945
• 1988    Spy Hook
• 1989    Spy Line
• 1990    Spy Sinker
• 1991    MAMista
• 1992    City of Gold
• 1993    Violent Ward
• 1994    Faith
• 1995    Hope
• 1996    Charity