John le Carre

Born David John Moore Cornwell in 1931, le Carre studied at Oxford and taught at Eton before being recruited by the Foreign Office. He served in the British Embassy at Bonn, and later Hamburg, and was eventually approached by MI6. He was still in the service when he wrote his first novel in 1961, but his cover was eventually blown by the famous double agent, Kim Philby. Many years later, Le Carre would explore Philby's weaknesses in the guise of 'Gerald', the character hunted by George Smiley in 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. The BBC's 1979 mini-series starring Alec Guiness as Smiley was reportedly le Carre's favourite screen adaptation of his work. "Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes." - John le Carre