Frederick Forsyth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frederick Forsyth
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Forsyth in 1972, showing the bullet that grazed his head in the Biafra War
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| Born | Frederick McCarthy Forsyth 25 August 1938 Ashford, Kent, England |
| Died | 9 June 2025 (aged 86) Jordans, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | Tonbridge School, Kent |
| Period | 1969–2025 |
| Genre | |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1956–1958 |
| Rank | Pilot officer |
| Service number | 5010968 |
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938 – died 9 June 2025) was a famous English writer and journalist. He was best known for his exciting thriller novels. Many of his books became best-sellers and were turned into movies. By 2006, he had sold over 70 million books in more than 30 languages. Forsyth also worked as a journalist for news groups like Reuters and the BBC.
Contents
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Frederick Forsyth was born in Ashford, Kent, England, on 25 August 1938. He went to Tonbridge School, which is a private boarding and day school in Kent.
Military Service and Journalism Work
Before becoming a journalist, Forsyth served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a pilot. He flew a type of plane called the de Havilland Vampire. He became an officer in the RAF in 1956 and later transferred to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1958.
After his military service, Forsyth joined Reuters news agency in 1961. In 1965, he started working for the BBC as a reporter. He covered events in France, including an attempt to assassinate the French President, Charles de Gaulle.
Forsyth also reported on the Nigerian Civil War between Biafra and Nigeria. He was there for the first six months of 1967 as a BBC correspondent. When the BBC decided not to cover the war anymore, Forsyth chose to leave and report on it as a freelance journalist. He felt it was important to share the story. He then wrote his first book, The Biafra Story, in 1969.
In 2015, Forsyth shared that he had also worked as an informant for MI6, which is a British intelligence agency. This connection lasted for 20 years, and he was not paid for it.
Forsyth often gave his opinions on political topics on the radio. He also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express newspaper for many years.
Becoming a Novelist
Frederick Forsyth said he started writing novels because he needed money. He never planned to be a novelist. He had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, and then a foreign correspondent. He wrote his first full novel, The Day of the Jackal, because he was "stony broke." He used the same detailed research skills he learned as a journalist for his books.
The Day of the Jackal was published in 1971. It quickly became a huge international best-seller. The book is about an assassin hired to kill the French President, Charles de Gaulle. It won an award for Best Novel in 1972 and was later made into a popular film and a television series.
His second novel, The Odessa File (1972), tells the story of a reporter trying to find a former Nazi officer in Germany. The reporter finds him through a diary, but the officer is protected by a secret group. This book was also made into a movie.
In The Dogs of War (1974), a British business executive hires soldiers to take over an African country. He wants to control its valuable platinum resources. This book also became a film in 1980.
The Shepherd, a shorter story published in 1975, is about an RAF pilot's scary journey home for Christmas. He gets lost and tries to understand how he was rescued.
The Devil's Alternative came out in 1979. It is set in 1982 and describes a crisis in the Soviet Union due to a bad harvest. The U.S. offers help in exchange for political agreements. The story involves a hijacked plane and different governments.
In 1982, Forsyth published No Comebacks, a collection of ten short stories. Many of these stories were set in Republic of Ireland, where he lived at the time. One story, There Are No Snakes in Ireland, won him another award.
The Fourth Protocol was published in 1984. It is about a secret plan by some people in the Soviet Union to plant an atomic bomb near a U.S. airbase in the UK. Their goal was to influence British elections. This book was adapted into a thriller film in 1987.
Forsyth's tenth book, The Negotiator (1989), is about a man whose job is to get the United States President's kidnapped son back. Two years later, in 1991, The Deceiver was published. It features four short stories about a British secret agent named Sam McCready.
In 1994, Forsyth published The Fist of God, a novel set during the first Gulf War. It involves different spy agencies. Next, in 1996, he published Icon, which is about the rise of fascists in post-Soviet Russia.
Forsyth then wrote The Phantom of Manhattan, a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. This was a different type of story for him, but it was not as successful as his thrillers. He soon returned to writing modern-day thrillers.
In 2001, The Veteran, another collection of short stories, was published. This was followed by Avenger in 2003. This book is about a Canadian billionaire who hires a former soldier to bring his grandson's killer to the United States. Avenger was also made into a film.
Another novel, The Afghan, was published in 2006. It is set in the near future and involves a plan to stop a major attack on the West. A British agent pretends to be a Taliban commander to gather information.
The Cobra, published in 2010, features some characters from Avenger. His novel The Kill List was published in 2013. In 2015, Forsyth's autobiography, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, was published.
In 2018, Forsyth published his eighteenth novel, The Fox. It is an espionage thriller about a very skilled computer hacker with autism.
Awards and Recognition
On 16 February 2012, Frederick Forsyth received the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers' Association. This award recognized all of his amazing work as a writer.
He was also appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997. This honor was given for his contributions to literature.
Political Views
Frederick Forsyth was a Eurosceptic Conservative. This means he believed Britain should have less involvement with the European Union. He supported Brexit, which was Britain's decision to leave the European Union.
He sometimes appeared on the BBC political show Question Time. He also expressed some doubt about the idea of human-caused climate change in his newspaper columns.
Personal Life
Frederick Forsyth married Carole Cunningham in 1973. They had two children, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1988. He then married Sandy Molloy in 1994. Sandy Molloy passed away in October 2024. Forsyth also had a relationship with actress Faye Dunaway.
He lived in a large manor house in Hertfordshire with his family before moving to Buckinghamshire in 2010. In 2016, he mentioned that he was stopping writing thrillers. He said his wife felt he was too old to travel to dangerous places for research.
Frederick Forsyth passed away at his home in Jordans, Buckinghamshire, on 9 June 2025. He was 86 years old and had been briefly ill.
Images for kids
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Forsyth in 1972, showing the bullet that grazed his head in the Biafra War
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Forsyth in 2003
See also
In Spanish: Frederick Forsyth para niños
