Frederick Forsyth, the British thriller writer whose novels were often bestsellers and adapted into films, died Monday at his home in Jordans, England. He was 86. His literary agent said Forsyth passed after a brief illness.
Forsyth sold 70 million books, including The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, and The Dogs of War. Many were made into successful movies.
The Day of the Jackal (1973), directed by Fred Zinnemann, starred Edward Fox as an assassin hired to kill French President Charles de Gaulle. The film was a critical and box office hit and inspired a 2024 TV series starring Eddie Redmayne. Forsyth distanced himself from the unrelated 1997 film The Jackal.
The Odessa File (1974) featured Jon Voight as a journalist uncovering a Nazi plot. The Dogs of War (1980) starred Christopher Walken in a story about mercenaries hired to overthrow an African leader. The Fourth Protocol (1987), a Cold War thriller, starred Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan.
Forsyth’s later novels included The Kill List and The Phantom of Manhattan, the latter inspiring Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2010 musical Love Never Dies. Several of his books were adapted into TV movies.
Born in Ashford, Kent, Forsyth served as the youngest Royal Air Force pilot at 19 before becoming a journalist for Reuters and the BBC. He reported on the Nigerian civil war but left the BBC to publish The Biafra Story, a nonfiction book.
In 1969, he wrote The Day of the Jackal in 35 days, selling about 10 million copies. In 2015, Forsyth revealed he had worked for MI6 for over 20 years, beginning during the Biafran War.
Forsyth was married twice and is survived by two sons from his first marriage.
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