George Langelaan was a British writer and journalist born in Paris, France. He is best known for his 1957 short story "The Fly", which was the basis for the 1958 and 1986 sci-fi film horror classics and a 2008 opera

The Fly (opera)

The Fly is an opera in two acts by Canadian composer Howard Shore to a libretto by David Henry Hwang. It was commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where it premiered on 2 July 2008, and by Edgar Baitzel, then director of the Los Angeles Opera, where the opera was first performed on 7...

 composed by Howard Shore

Howard Shore

Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...

.

Career

During World War II, Langelaan worked as a spy and special agent for the Allied powers

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 as part of SOE (Special Operations Executive). According to his memoirs, The Masks of War (1959), he underwent plastic surgery to alter his appearance before being dropped into France. He parachuted into occupied France on 7 September 1941 to make contact with the French resistance forces south of Châteauroux, arranged to meet Édouard Herriot

Édouard Herriot

Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....

, was captured on 6 October, imprisoned in the Mauzac camp, condemned to death by the Nazis, and escaped and returned to England to participate in the Normandy landings. He explained that his ears were too large and that they had to be pinned back before he could be dropped into enemy territory. The operation was deemed necessary so as to remove features that were too distinctive. He was in F Section SOE with the rank of Lieutenant. He received the French Croix de guerre. His code name was "Langdon". He escaped from the Mauzac camp on 16 July 1942.

In the 1950s and 1960s he wrote his memoirs, novels, and short stories that were made into motion pictures and which were featured on television.

He died in 1972 at the age of 64.

"The Fly"

Of all his literary works, he is best remembered for his 1957 short story "The Fly", which originally appeared in the June, 1957 issue of Playboy magazine. The story itself has been adapted to the screen twice, in 1958

The Fly (1958 film)

The Fly is a 1958 American science-fiction horror film, directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell , from the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan...

 starring Vincent Price and David (Al) Hedison, directed by Kurt Neumann, and with a screenplay by James Clavell and 1986

The Fly (1986 film)

The Fly is a 1986 science fiction horror film co-written and directed by David Cronenberg. Produced by 20th Century Fox, and Brooksfilms, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. It is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name, but retains only the basic premise of a scientist...

starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, directed by David Cronenberg. Each of those films spawned its own sequel. An opera by Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore based on the short story "The Fly" was premiered in 2008, which played Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet. The opera was directed by David Cronenberg with a libretto by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang. Plácido Domingo was the conductor.

Screen adaptations

The following movies and television episodes were based on his short stories:

• The Fly (1958) (story)
• The Return of the Fly (1959) (short story "The Fly")
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Strange Miracle" (1962) (story)
• Curse of the Fly (1965) (concept and characters) (uncredited)
• Night Gallery episode "The Hand of Borgus Weems" (1971) based on his short story "The Other Hand"
• Hyperion (1975) (story)
• Le Collectionneur des cerveaux (1976) (writer) also known as Les Robots pensants (The Thinking Robots) in French
• The Fly remake, or La Mouche in French (1986) (short story)
• The Fly II (1989) (characters)

Books and Short Fiction

• Thirteen Phantoms or Treize fantomes (1971)
• The New Parasites or Les Nouveaux parasites in French, with Jean Barral (1969)
• Turncoat (1967)
• "The Thinking Robots" or "The Collector of Brains", "Les Robots pensants" in French
• The Flight of Anti-G or Le Vol de l'anti-G (1968)
• "Salad of Heads" (1965)
• "Torpedo the Torpedo"
• "Attack-Rifle-2nd"
• "The Dolphin Speaks Too" (1964)
• "Zombie Express Train" (1964)
• "The Secret Notebooks of Agent P.P. 751" (1960–1963) series in the publication Controls
• The Knights of the Floating Silk (1959)
• The Masks of War: From Dunkirk to D-Day—The Masquerades of a British Intelligence Agent (1959) American edition published by Doubleday
• One Named Langdon: Memories of a Secret Agent or Un nommé Langdon (1950)

Honors

His 1957 short story classic "The Fly" received Playboy magazine's Best Fiction Award and was selected for inclusion in the Annual of the Year's Best Science Fiction.

External links

• George Langelaan at the IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0486228/
• The cover of the June, 1957 issue of Playboy, which contained the classic short story "The Fly": http://www.playboy.com/magazine/cover-gallery/1957/06/imx/1957-06-A-lrg.jpg