Len Deighton
Encyclopedia
The Ipcress File
The IPCRESS File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as the protagonist....
, which was made into a film
The Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
.
Early years
Deighton was born in MaryleboneMarylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, London, in 1929. His father was a chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
and mechanic, and his mother was a part-time cook. At the time they lived in Gloucester Place Mews near Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
.
Deighton's interest in spy stories may have been partially inspired by the arrest of Anna Wolkoff
Anna Wolkoff
Anna Nikolayevna Wolkova , sometimes known as Anna de Wolkoff, was a White Russian emigré and a spy for Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:...
, which he witnessed as an 11-year-old boy. Wolkoff, a British subject of Russian descent, was a Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
spy. She was detained on 20 May 1940 and subsequently convicted of violating the Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act 1939
The Official Secrets Act 1939 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It substitutes a new section 6 into the Official Secrets Act 1920, which limits the scope of that offence to offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911...
for attempting to pass secret documents to the Nazis.
Career
After leaving school, Deighton worked as a railway clerk before performing his National ServiceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, which he spent as a photographer for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's Special Investigation Branch
Special Investigation Branch
The Special Investigation Branch is the name given to the detective branches of all three British military police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. It is most closely associated with the Royal Military Police, which has the largest SIB. SIB members...
. After discharge from the RAF, he studied at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1949, and in 1952 won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, graduating in 1955. While he was at the RCA he became a "lifelong friend" of fellow designer Raymond Hawkey
Raymond Hawkey
Raymond John "Ray" Hawkey was an English graphic designer and author, based in London.-Personal life:He was born in 1930 in Plymouth to John Charles Hawkey and Constance Olive Hawkey....
, who later designed covers for his early books. Deighton then worked as an airline steward
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
with BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
. Before he began his writing career he worked as an illustrator in New York and, in 1960, as an art director in a London advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
. He is credited with creating the first British cover for Kerouac's
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
On the Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
. He has since used his drawing skills to illustrate a number of his own military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
books.
Following the success of his first novels, Deighton became The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s cookery writer and produced illustrated cookbooks. He also wrote travel guides and became travel editor of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, before becoming a film producer. After producing a film adaption of his 1968 novel Only When I Larf
Only When I Larf
Only When I Larf is a late 1960s British comic thriller describing the activities of a team of three fictional confidence tricksters led by Silas Lowther , his girlfriend Liz Mason and wannabe apprentice and Liz-worshipper Bob...
, Deighton and photographer Brian Duffy
Brian Duffy (photographer)
Brian Duffy was a celebrated English photographer and film producer, best remembered for his fashion photography of the 1960s and 1970s and his creation of the iconic "Aladdin Sane" image for David Bowie.-Early life:...
bought the film rights to Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
and Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group noted for their director, Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company...
's stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963...
. He had his name removed from the credits of the film
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
, however, which was a move that he later described as "stupid and infantile". That was his last involvement with the cinema.
Deighton left England in 1969. He briefly resided in Blackrock, County Louth
Blackrock, County Louth
Blackrock , is a seaside village just to the south of Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. The village is in the townland of Haggardstown. The current population of the village is about 3,000....
in Ireland. He has not returned to England apart from some personal visits and very few media appearances, his last one since 1985 being a 2006 interview which formed part of a "Len Deighton Night" on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
. He and his wife Ysabele divide their time between homes in Portugal and Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
.
Novels
Several of his novels have been adapted as films. His first four novels featured an anonymous anti-hero, named "Harry PalmerHarry Palmer
Harry Palmer is the name of the protagonist of a number of films based on the main character from the spy novels written by Len Deighton. Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in the films based on three of the first four of the published novels featuring this character, and also later in two films not...
" in the films, and portrayed by Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
. The first trilogy of his Bernard Samson
Bernard Samson
Bernard Samson is a fictional character created by Len Deighton. Samson is a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the Secret Intelligence Service – usually referred to as "the Department" in the novels. He is a central character in three trilogies written by Deighton,...
novel series was made into a 12-part television series by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
in 1988, shown only once, and withdrawn on instructions from Deighton. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
has expressed interest in filming the trilogy. Deighton wrote the screenplay and was an uncredited producer
of the 1969 film
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
of the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963...
. His 1970 World War II historical novel Bomber
Bomber (novel)
Bomber is a novel written by Len Deighton and published in the UK in 1970. It is the fictionalised account of the events of 31 June [sic], 1943 in which an RAF bombing raid on the Ruhr area of western Germany goes wrong...
about an RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
raid over Germany often is considered his masterpiece.
He reportedly began an unfinished Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
novel, a portion of which appeared as the story First Base in his short story collection Declarations of War.
Cookery books
Deighton also published a series of cookery books and wrote and drew a weekly strip cartoon-style illustrated cooking guide in London's The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper – Len Deighton's Cookstrip. At least one of the strips is pinned up in Deighton's spy hero's kitchen in the 1965 film of his novel The IPCRESS File
The Ipcress File
The IPCRESS File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as the protagonist....
.
To exploit the success of Deighton's first four "Unnamed Hero" novels, he wrote Len Deighton's London Dossier (1967), a guide book to Swinging Sixties London with a "secret agent" theme – contributions from other writers are described as "surveillance reports".
History books
Deighton's 1977 "Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of BritainFighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain
Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain is a Second World War military history book by English author Len Deighton. First published in 1977, Fighter was Deighton's first history book, having made his name as a writer of spy fiction. Deighton was encouraged to write the book by his...
" was said by Albert Speer
Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
(once Hitler's Minister of Armaments) to be "an excellent, most thorough examination. I read page after page with fascination". The piece was furnished with a comment by A. J. P. Taylor
A. J. P. Taylor
Alan John Percivale Taylor, FBA was a British historian of the 20th century and renowned academic who became well known to millions through his popular television lectures.-Early life:...
simply saying: "Brilliant analysis...".
Further literature
- Sauerberg, Lars Ole (1984). Secret Agents in Fiction: Ian Fleming, John le Carré, and Len Deighton
- Milward-Oliver, Edward (1985). Len Deighton: An Annotated Bibliography 1954–85
- Milward-Oliver, Edward (1987). The Len Deighton Companion
External links
- The Deighton Dossier – comprehensive online Deighton resource
- Shots Magazine – An appreciation of Len Deighton
- Harper Collins to reprint Deighton's novels in 2009
- Petri Liukkonen & Ari Pesonen (2008) "Len Deighton," books and writers
- More information on LD
- 2006 Times interview
- 2006 Independent interview
- "The Truth About Len Deighton" documentary
- Cover of On The Road illustrated by Len Deighton