David John Moore Cornwell, better known by his pen name John Le Carré, has died aged 89.
Le Carré was a highly respected author, and one of the best post-war espionage writers, but he was more than just a novelist, he was effectively a character in his own novels.
Le Carré spent his early life attending harsh public schools, which he soon became tired of. He then joined the British Army Intelligence Corps in 1950, where he began his foray into espionage, working as a German language interrogator of people who crossed the Iron Curtain.
He then went on to study English at the University of Oxford, whilst moonlighting as an agent for MI5, spying on far-left groups to root out possible Soviet agents.
In 1958, Le Carré became an MI5 officer, thus he did all the things you can read about in his novels; He tapped phone lines, interrogated subjects, ran agents and effected break-ins. Le Carré began writing his first novel in 1961, Call Of The Dead, after encouragement from another crime writer.
He then transferred to MI6, where he worked as a foreign intelligence officer and began work on his next two novels. He wrote The Murder Of Quality and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold under the pseudonym John Le Carré because foreign officers were unable to publish under their own names.
The most famous of Le Carré’s works were written over 60 years ago. His most famous novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, was adapted into a TV program in 1979, starring the British actor Sir Alec Guinness and then later in 2011 with Gary Oldman as the lead role. The film received several Oscar nods in 2012.
In 1964, Le Carré left his life of espionage due to the betrayal of British Agent’s cover by Kim Philby, a member of the KGB and notorious double agent.
Le Carré left the service and went on to become a full time novelist, with his most famous novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, being centred around Philby as the mole hunted by protagonist George Smiley.
Le Carré is survived by his wife, Valerie and his four children.
Words by Jaimie Kay
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