Frederick Forsyth
{{Short description|English novelist (1938–2025)}}
{{For|the Canadian politician|Frederick Forsyth Pardee}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Frederick Forsyth
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}}
| image = Frederick-Forsyth-1972.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Forsyth in 1972, showing the bullet that grazed his head in the Biafra War
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Frederick McCarthy Forsyth
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|08|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ashford, Kent, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|06|09|1938|08|25|df=y}}
| death_place = Jordans, Buckinghamshire, England
| occupation = Novelist
| education = Tonbridge School, Kent
| period = 1969–2025
| genre = {{cslist|Crime fiction|thriller}}
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{cslist|The Day of the Jackal|The Odessa File|The Dogs of War|The Fourth Protocol|The Fist of God|No Comebacks}}
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Carole Cunningham|1973|1988|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|Sandy Molloy|1994|2024|reason=died}}}}
| signature =
| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = Royal Air Force
| branch_label = Branch
| serviceyears = 1956–1958
| rank = Pilot officer
| servicenumber = 5010968
}}
| website = {{URL|http://www.frederickforsyth.co.uk/}}
}}
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth ({{IPAc-en|f|ɔːr|ˈ|s|aɪ|θ}} {{respell|for|SYTH}};{{cite tweet|user=onyekanwelue|first=Onyek|last=Nwelue|number=1798530984628924757|title=Listen to Frederick Forsyth address Wole Soyinka about their last night in Biafra.
I went to speak to him about Biafra, for my historical novel, "The Women of Biafra."}}{{Cite web |title=Forsyth, Frederick _ meaning of Forsyth, Frederick in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English _ LDOCE |url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/frederick-forsyth |access-date=14 June 2025 |website=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116201855/https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/frederick-forsyth |url-status=live }} 25 August 1938 – 9 June 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, The Cobra and The Kill List. Forsyth's works frequently appeared on best-sellers lists and more than a dozen of his titles have been adapted to film. By 2006, he had sold more than 70 million books in more than 30 languages.{{cite news|last1=Leeman|first1=Sue|title=Forsyth Looks at World of Al-Qaida|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=20060903&id=XWxUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6521,848695&hl=en|access-date=26 June 2015|agency=Associated Press|date=3 September 2006|archive-date=8 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108000955/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=20060903&id=XWxUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6521,848695&hl=en|url-status=live}} He also worked as a journalist, first joining Reuters in 1961 before serving as an assistant diplomatic correspondent in 1965 for the BBC. He also frequently wrote a column for the middle market newspaper Daily Express often regarding political issues, such as his scepticism on the subject of anthropogenic climate change.
Early life and career
Forsyth was born in Ashford, Kent, on 25 August 1938, and was educated at Tonbridge School, a private boarding and day school in the market town of Tonbridge, Kent.{{cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cley59le6d8o|title = Frederick Forsyth: Life as a thriller writer, fighter pilot, journalist and spy|date = 9 June 2025|access-date = 9 June 2025|publisher = BBC News}}
=Military and journalism=
Before becoming a journalist, Forsyth completed his National Service in the Royal Air Force as a pilot, for which he flew the de Havilland Vampire.{{Cite web |last=Koseluk |first=Chris |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth, Author of 'The Day of the Jackal,' Dies at 86 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/frederick-forsyth-dead-day-of-the-jackal-author-1236260284/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} He was commissioned with the rank of acting pilot officer on 28 August 1956,{{London Gazette |issue=40902 |date=16 October 1956 |page=5846 |supp=y}} becoming substantive in that rank one year later.{{London Gazette |issue=41165 |date=3 September 1957 |page=5169 |supp=y}} After completing his full-time national service, he was transferred to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 30 October 1958 with the rank of flying officer.{{London Gazette |issue=41687 |date=17 April 1959 |pages=2611–2612 |supp=y}} He joined Reuters in 1961 and in 1965 the BBC, for which he served as an assistant diplomatic correspondent.{{Cite web |last=Parkel |first=Inga |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal author, dies aged 86 |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/news/frederick-forsyth-death-day-of-the-jackal-b2766679.html |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=10 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250610044828/https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/news/frederick-forsyth-death-day-of-the-jackal-b2766679.html |url-status=live }}
Forsyth reported on his early activities as a journalist. His early career was spent covering French affairs and the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle. He had never been to Africa until reporting on the Nigerian Civil War between Biafra and Nigeria as a BBC correspondent.{{Cite AV media | publisher= BBC | title= Nigeria War Against Biafra, 1967–70, Part 3 | type= documentary | url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7qQdZ9nzbI | via= Njenje Media TV; YouTube | access-date= 29 November 2016 | archive-date= 18 February 2018 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180218055632/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7qQdZ9nzbI | url-status= live }} He was there for the first six months of 1967, but few expected the war to last long considering the poor weaponry and preparation of the Biafrans when compared to the British-armed Nigerians. After his six months were over, however, Forsyth—eager to carry on reporting—approached the BBC to ask if he could have more time there. He noted their response:
{{Blockquote|I was told quite bluntly, then, "it is not our policy to cover this war". This was a period when the Vietnam War was front-page headlines almost every day, regarded broadly as an American cock-up, and this particularly British cock-up in Nigeria was not going to be covered. I smelt news management. I don't like news management. So I made a private vow to myself: "you may, gentlemen, not be covering it, but I'm going to cover it". So I quit and flew out there, and stayed there for most of the next two years.}}
Forsyth thus returned to Biafra as a freelance reporter, writing his first book, The Biafra Story, in 1969.
In August 2015, Forsyth revealed that in Biafra he was an informant for MI6,{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=1 September 2015 |title=Frederick Forsyth: I Was an MI6 Agent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/01/frederick-forsyth-i-was-an-mi6-agent |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |access-date=11 January 2025}} a relationship that continued for 20 years. According to Forsyth, he was not paid.{{Cite news |title=Frederick Forsyth Reveals MI6 Spying Past |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34101822 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927001711/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34101822 |archive-date=27 September 2019 |publisher=BBC News |date=30 August 2015 |access-date=15 June 2025}}
Forsyth did occasional radio commentary on political issues. He also wrote for newspapers throughout his career, and up until August 2023 wrote a weekly column in the Daily Express.{{cite web |author1=Matt Nixson |title=Frederick Forsyth bids farewell to Daily Express column after twenty years |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1804597/Frederick-Forsyth-Daily-Express-column |website=Daily Express |access-date=26 May 2025 |date=21 August 2023 |archive-date=10 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250610154614/https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1804597/Frederick-Forsyth-Daily-Express-column |url-status=live }} In 2003, he criticised "gay-bashers in the churches" in The Guardian newspaper. He narrated several documentaries, including Jesus Christ Airlines, Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle and I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal.{{Cite news |last=Corry |first=John |date=1987-07-14 |title=TV REVIEW; 'Cavalry,' 2d Episode in 'Men in Battle' Series |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/14/movies/tv-review-cavalry-2d-episode-in-men-in-battle-series.html |archive-date=13 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113210621/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/14/movies/tv-review-cavalry-2d-episode-in-men-in-battle-series.html |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2025-06-13 |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last=Lindholm |first=Susan |date=2025-03-12 |title=Fly Now, Pray Later: Humanitarian Time and Humanitarian Heroes in the Documentary Jesus Christ Airlines |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/hcm/13/1/article-p34_002.xml |journal=International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=34–58 |doi=10.1163/22130624-20251302 |issn=2213-0624 |via=Brill Publishers}}{{Cite news |last=French |first=Philip |date=2007-07-28 |title=I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/jul/29/documentary.worldcinema |work=The Guardian |access-date=2025-06-13 |issn=0261-3077 |language=en-GB}}
=Writing=
File:Frederick Forsyth - 01.jpg
According to Forsyth, his turn to writing fiction was born of financial need; he did not think himself cut out to be a novelist. As a boy, he said, he wanted to be "a fighter jock," and when he traded his career in the RAF for journalism, it was "to see the world" as a foreign and war correspondent. As for becoming a novelist, he confessed "I never wanted to be a writer," but wrote his first full-length novel, The Day of the Jackal, because he was "skint, stony broke."Frederick Forsyth, "Author's Note: A Rather Undeserving Scribe," introduction to New American Library re-issue of The Day of the Jackal (New York: Penguin, 2012), vi–vii. He applied similar research techniques to those used in journalism. Published in 1971, the book became an international bestseller and gained its author the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel in 1972.{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Brian |date=June 9, 2025 |title=Frederick Forsyth, thriller writer of 'Day of the Jackal,' dies at 86 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/06/09/frederick-forsyth-dead/ |access-date=June 12, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=12 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250612123904/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/06/09/frederick-forsyth-dead/ |url-status=live }} In this story, the Organisation armée secrète hires an assassin to kill then–French President Charles de Gaulle.{{Cite web |last=Dagan |first=Carmel |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth, Author of Thrillers Made Into Movies Like 'The Day of the Jackal,' Dies at 86 |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/frederick-forsyth-dead-dies-the-day-of-the-jackal-1236423859/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=10 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250610050637/https://variety.com/2025/film/news/frederick-forsyth-dead-dies-the-day-of-the-jackal-1236423859/ |url-status=live }} It was made into a film of the same name, and subsequently a television series.
In Forsyth's second full-length novel, The Odessa File (1972), a reporter attempts to track down an ex–Nazi SS officer in contemporary Germany.{{cite news |last=Risen |first=Clay |date=9 June 2025 |title=Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/books/frederick-forsyth-dead.html |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 June 2025}}{{Cite news |last=Larman |first=Alexander |date=2025-06-14 |title=Historians mocked Frederick Forsyth's The Odessa File – but it may have helped catch a Nazi |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/frederick-forsyth-the-odessa-file/ |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://archive.ph/D0J6X |archive-date=14 June 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |issn=0307-1235 |access-date=2025-06-14 |language=en-GB}} The reporter discovers him via the diary of a Jewish Holocaust survivor who died of suicide earlier, but he is being shielded by an organisation that protects ex-Nazis, called ODESSA.{{Cite web |title=THE ODESSA FILE |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/28046/the-odessa-file#overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624235112/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/28046/the-odessa-file#overview |archive-date=24 June 2024 |url-status=live |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=June 14, 2025}} This book was later made into a movie with the same name, starring Jon Voight, but there were substantial alterations. Many of the novel's readers assumed that a centralized ODESSA organisation really existed, but historians disagree.{{cite book|author=Walters, Guy |title=Hunting Evil: The Nazi War Criminals Who Escaped and the Quest to Bring Them to Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5EgykND42kC&pg=PA443|year=2010|publisher=Crown Publishing Group|pages=139, 156|isbn=9780307592484}}
In The Dogs of War (1974) a British mining executive hires a group of mercenaries to overthrow the government of an African country so that he can install a puppet regime that will allow him cheap access to a colossal platinum-ore reserve.{{Cite news |last=Goddard |first=Donald |date=1974-07-14 |title=The Dogs of War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/14/archives/the-dogs-of-war-by-frederick-forsyth-408-pp-new-york-the-viking.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2025-06-13 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=The Dogs of War |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/frederick-forsyth-4/the-dogs-of-war-2/ |access-date=June 13, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423002916/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/frederick-forsyth-4/the-dogs-of-war-2/ |url-status=live }} This book was also adapted into a 1980 film starring Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger.{{Cite web |last=Pedersen |first=Erik |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth Dies: 'Day of the Jackal', 'Odessa File' & 'The Dogs of War' Author Was 86 |url=https://deadline.com/2025/06/frederick-forsyth-dead-day-of-jackal-author-1236428417/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |archive-date=10 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250610095345/https://deadline.com/2025/06/frederick-forsyth-dead-day-of-jackal-author-1236428417/ |url-status=live |website=Deadline |language=en-US }} The Shepherd was an illustrated novella published in 1975. It tells of a nightmare journey by an RAF pilot while flying home for Christmas in the late 1950s. His attempts to find a rational explanation for his eventual rescue prove as troublesome as his experience.{{Cite web |title=The Shepherd |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/frederick-forsyth-2/the-shepherd/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=June 13, 2025}}
Following this came The Devil's Alternative in 1979, which is set in 1982.{{Cite book |last=Forsyth |first=Frederick |date=2012-09-04 |title=The Devil's Alternative: A Thriller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOqtXGAJx6gC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407191409/https://books.google.com/books?id=MOqtXGAJx6gC |archive-date=7 April 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-60216-4 |access-date=14 June 2025 |language=en }} In this book, the Soviet Union faces a disastrous grain harvest. The U.S. is ready to help for some political and military concessions. A Politburo faction fight ensues. War is proposed as a solution. Ukrainian freedom fighters complicate the situation later. In the end, a Swedish oil tanker built in Japan, a Russian airliner hijacked to West Berlin and various governments find themselves involved.{{Cite web |title=The Devil's Alternative |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/frederick-forsyth-2/the-devils-alternative/ |archive-date=9 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109054646/http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/frederick-forsyth-2/the-devils-alternative/ |url-status=live |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=June 14, 2025}} In 1982, No Comebacks, a collection of ten short stories, was published.{{Cite news |title=Best sellers; fiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/25/books/best-sellers-fiction.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524112113/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/25/books/best-sellers-fiction.html |archive-date=24 May 2015 |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |date=1982-07-25 |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2025-06-13 |language=en-US }} Some of these stories had been written earlier. Many were set in the Republic of Ireland where Forsyth was living at the time. One of them, There Are No Snakes in Ireland, won him a second Edgar Allan Poe Award.{{Cite web |title=Forsyth, Frederick |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/forsyth-frederick |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913204617/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/forsyth-frederick |url-status=live |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=2025-06-14}}
The Fourth Protocol was published in 1984 and involves renegade elements within the Soviet Union attempting to plant an atomic bomb near a U.S airbase in the UK, intending to influence the upcoming British elections and lead to the election of an anti-NATO, anti-American, anti-nuclear, pro-Soviet Labour government.{{Cite news |last=Kakutani |first=Michiko |date=1984-08-30 |title=BOOKS OF THE TIMES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/30/books/books-of-the-times-164150.html |access-date=2025-06-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=9 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109054628/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/30/books/books-of-the-times-164150.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=MacLeish |first=Roderick |author-link=Roderick MacLeish |date=August 25, 1984 |title=Frederick Forsyth's Finest |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1984/08/26/fredrick-forsyths-finest/242aaae1-cf8d-4feb-bbfd-53447d42a4da/ |access-date=June 14, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828123913/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1984/08/26/fredrick-forsyths-finest/242aaae1-cf8d-4feb-bbfd-53447d42a4da/ |url-status=live }} The 1987 adaptation as a thriller film starred Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine.{{Cite web |title=The Fourth Protocol |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fourth_protocol |access-date=June 14, 2025 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en |archive-date=3 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250303140544/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fourth_protocol |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=August 28, 1987 |title=The Fourth Protocol movie review (1987) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-fourth-protocol-1987 |access-date=June 14, 2025 |website=RogerEbert.com |language=en-US |archive-date=13 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513171246/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-fourth-protocol-1987 |url-status=live }}
Forsyth's tenth book came in 1989 with The Negotiator, in which the United States President's son is kidnapped and one man's job is to negotiate his release.{{Cite news |last=Condon |first=Richard |date=1989-04-16 |title=HALF-MAD BILLIONARIES AND ELECTRONIC WHATSITS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/books/half-mad-billionaries-and-electronic-whatsits.html |access-date=2025-06-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date= |title=The Negotiator by Frederick Forsyth |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553053616 |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613044038/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553053616 |url-status=live }} Two years later, in 1991, The Deceiver was published. It includes four short stories reviewing the career of British secret agent Sam McCready. At the start of the novel, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State (PUSS) of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requires the Chief of the SIS to push Sam into early retirement. The four stories are presented to a grievance committee in an attempt to allow Sam to stay on active duty with the SIS.{{Cite web |title=The Deceiver |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-deceiver/ |access-date=June 14, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029055400/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-deceiver/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Ross |date=1991-11-17 |title=Cigarettes, Martinis and Other Deceptions: The Deceiver, By Frederick Forsyth (Bantam Books: $22.50; 496 pp.) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-17-bk-175-story.html |access-date=2025-06-14 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
In 1994, Forsyth published The Fist of God, a novel which concerns the first Gulf War, Project Babylon and competition between intelligence agencies.{{Cite web |title=THE FIST OF GOD |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-fist-of-god/ |access-date=June 13, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415020119/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-fist-of-god/ |url-status=live }} Next, in 1996, he published Icon, about the rise of fascists to power in post-Soviet Russia.{{Cite web |title=ICON |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/icon/ |access-date=June 13, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=6 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206190423/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/icon/ |url-status=live }} Forsyth then published The Phantom of Manhattan, a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth: Life as a thriller writer, fighter pilot, journalist and spy |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cley59le6d8o |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=BBC |language=en-GB |archive-date=10 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250610070541/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cley59le6d8o |url-status=live }} It was intended as a departure from his usual genre; Forsyth's explanation was that "I had done mercenaries, assassins, Nazis, murderers, terrorists, special forces soldiers, fighter pilots, you name it, and I got to think, could I actually write about the human heart?" However, it did not achieve the same success as his other novels, and he subsequently returned to modern-day thrillers.
In 2001, The Veteran, another collection of short stories, was published, followed by Avenger, published in September 2003, about a Canadian billionaire who hires a Vietnam veteran to bring his grandson's killer to the United States.{{Cite news |last=Petit |first=Chris |date=2001-11-10 |title=Big in thrillers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/10/fiction.reviews2 |access-date=2025-06-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |date=2003-09-13 |title=Review: Avenger by Frederick Forsyth |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6572529.review-avenger-frederick-forsyth/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Oxford Mail |language=en |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613043844/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6572529.review-avenger-frederick-forsyth/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Avenger |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/avenger/ |access-date=June 13, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613043437/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/avenger/ |url-status=live }} The novel was adapted into a film starring Sam Elliott and Timothy Hutton. Another novel written by Forsyth, The Afghan, was published in August 2006. Set in the very near future, the threat of a catastrophic assault on the West, discovered on a senior al-Qaeda member's computer, compels the leaders of the U.S. and the UK to attempt a desperate gambit—to substitute a seasoned British operative, retired Col. Mike Martin (of The Fist of God), for an Afghan Taliban commander being held prisoner at Guantánamo Bay.{{Cite web |title=THE AFGHAN |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-afghan/ |access-date=June 12, 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215210/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frederick-forsyth/the-afghan/ |url-status=live }}
The Cobra, published in 2010, features some of the characters previously featured in Avenger, and has as its subject an attempt to destroy the world trade in cocaine.{{Cite web |last=Urban |first=William |date=December 9, 2021 |title=William Urban: Frederick Forsyth's novel 'The Cobra' |url=https://www.reviewatlas.com/story/opinion/columns/2021/12/09/william-urban-frederick-forsyths-novel-the-cobra/8890449002/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Daily Review Atlas |language=en-US |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613043938/https://www.reviewatlas.com/story/opinion/columns/2021/12/09/william-urban-frederick-forsyths-novel-the-cobra/8890449002/ |url-status=live }} On 20 August 2013, his novel The Kill List was published. It was announced earlier in June that year that Rupert Sanders would be directing a film version of the story.{{Citation | first = Angie | last = Han | url = http://www.slashfilm.com/rupert-sanders-to-direct-frederick-forsyth-adaptation-the-kill-list/ | title = Rupert Sanders to Direct Frederick Forsyth Adaptation 'The Kill List' | newspaper = Slash film | date = 20 June 2013 | access-date = 2 September 2013 | archive-date = 4 February 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140204010908/http://www.slashfilm.com/rupert-sanders-to-direct-frederick-forsyth-adaptation-the-kill-list/ | url-status = live }}. In September 2015, Forsyth's autobiography, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, was published.{{Cite web |last=Donahue |first=Joe |date=2015-11-19 |title='The Outsider: My Life In Intrigue' by Fredrick Forsyth |url=https://www.wamc.org/the-roundtable/2015-11-19/the-outsider-my-life-in-intrigue-by-fredrick-forsyth |access-date=2025-06-13 |publisher=WAMC |language=en |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613043641/https://www.wamc.org/the-roundtable/2015-11-19/the-outsider-my-life-in-intrigue-by-fredrick-forsyth |url-status=live }}
In January 2018, it was announced that Forsyth would publish his eighteenth novel, a thriller about computer hackers, inspired by the Lauri Love and Gary McKinnon stories.Cowdrey, Katherine (9 January 2018): "[https://www.thebookseller.com/news/transworld-publish-new-forsyth-novel-autumn-704846 Forsyth to release hacking thriller this autumn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008191824/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/transworld-publish-new-forsyth-novel-autumn-704846 |date=8 October 2018 }}". The Bookseller.com. URL accessed 19 April 2018. The Fox was published in the same year as an espionage thriller regarding a highly skilled autistic hacker.{{Cite web |last=Nissim |first=P S |date=January 26, 2019 |title=Book Review: The Fox by Frederick Forsyth |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/features/hacking-telepathy-714909.html |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Patrick |date=October 25, 2018 |title=At 80, Frederick Forsyth has produced a classic thriller that's also eerily relevant |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/at-80-frederick-forsyth-has-produced-a-classic-thriller-thats-also-eerily-relevant/2018/10/24/40904d32-d15d-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html |access-date=June 13, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=30 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230154141/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/at-80-frederick-forsyth-has-produced-a-classic-thriller-thats-also-eerily-relevant/2018/10/24/40904d32-d15d-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html |url-status=live }}
Other awards
On 16 February 2012 the Crime Writers' Association announced that Forsyth had won its Cartier Diamond Dagger award in recognition of his body of work.{{cite web|title=Frederick Forsyth wins the CWA Diamond Dagger|url=http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2012/diamond.html|work=CWA Diamond Dagger Awards|publisher=Crime Writers Association (UK)|access-date=21 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020210305/http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2012/diamond.html|archive-date=20 October 2012}}
Forsyth was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours list for services to literature.{{London Gazette |issue=54625 |date=31 December 1996 |page=8 |supp=y}}
Political views
Forsyth was a Eurosceptic Conservative.{{Cite news |last=Bird |first=Orlando |date=2025-06-11 |title='Sir!' Frederick Forsyth wrote sizzling letters to the Telegraph for 30 years. Here are the best |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/11/frederick-forsyth-telegraph-correspondence/ |access-date=2025-06-14 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=12 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250612211248/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/11/frederick-forsyth-telegraph-correspondence/ |url-status=live }} He was Patron of Better Off Out, an organisation calling for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, and he supported Brexit. In 2003, he was awarded the One of Us Award from the Conservative Way Forward group for his services to the Conservative movement in Britain.{{Cite news |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth, author and journalist who reinvented the thriller with The Day of the Jackal |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/06/09/frederick-forsyth-day-jackal-assassination-thriller/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=12 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250612085206/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/06/09/frederick-forsyth-day-jackal-assassination-thriller/ |url-status=live }}
In the run-up to the 2005 general election, Forsyth called for the impeachment of Tony Blair over the 2003 invasion of Iraq and lent his support to anti-war campaigner Reg Keys who stood in Blair's constituency of Sedgefield.{{Cite web |date=2005-05-02 |title=Best-selling author calls for voters to oust Blair |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/6953544.best-selling-author-calls-voters-oust-blair/ |access-date=2025-06-14 |website=The Northern Echo |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2005-04-28 |title=Novelist backs murdered Redcap's father |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/6953915.novelist-backs-murdered-redcaps-father/ |access-date=2025-06-14 |website=The Northern Echo |language=en}} In 2016, Forsyth was featured as a character in Reg, a one-off BBC real-life drama about Reg Keys' campaign. In the programme, Forsyth was portrayed by Tim Bentinck.{{Cite web |title=BBC One - Reg |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07g06ch |access-date=9 August 2024 |website=BBC |language=en-GB |archive-date=12 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312114019/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07g06ch |url-status=live }}
Forsyth often appeared on BBC's political panel show Question Time as a guest; he also expressed scepticism on the subject of anthropogenic climate change in a Daily Express column he wrote often.{{Cite news |last=Lea |first=Richard |date=2025-06-09 |title=Frederick Forsyth, Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent, dies aged 86 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/09/frederick-forsyth-day-of-the-jackal-author-and-former-mi6-agent-dies-aged-86 |access-date=2025-06-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Personal life
Forsyth married former model Carole Cunningham in 1973. The marriage, which produced two children, ended in divorce in 1988. He married Sandy Molloy in 1994. Molloy died in October 2024.{{Cite web|title=The Day Of The Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj4ljxv17xo|access-date=9 June 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Ough |first=Tom |date=12 January 2019 |title=Frederick Forsyth: 80, Author and Journalist |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph-saturday/20190112/282016148484672 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=10 December 2024 |via=PressReader |archive-date=23 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123220850/https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph-saturday/20190112/282016148484672 |url-status=live }} He also had a relationship with actress Faye Dunaway.New York Daily News, 25 August 1987. Forsyth previously resided in a 26-room manor house in East End Green, Hertfordshire, with his family before moving to Buckinghamshire in 2010.{{Cite web|work=BBC|title=Hertfordshire Literary Map|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/01/31/hertfordshire_literary_map_feature.shtml|access-date=3 August 2021|language=en-gb|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026202804/http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/01/31/hertfordshire_literary_map_feature.shtml|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Frederick Forsyth|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/100/1000661/frederick-forsyth.html?tab=penguin-biography|access-date=3 August 2021|website=Penguin.co.uk|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803125410/https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/100/1000661/frederick-forsyth.html?tab=penguin-biography|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Redwood|first=Fred|date=12 February 2017|title=Take a peek inside spy-to-writer Frederick Forsyth's fortress|language=en-GB |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy/take-peek-inside-spy-to-writer-frederick-forsyths-fortress/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy/take-peek-inside-spy-to-writer-frederick-forsyths-fortress/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=3 August 2021|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}
In 2016, he said he was giving up writing thrillers because his wife had told him he was too old to travel to dangerous places.{{cite web|title=Frederick Forsyth to stop writing thrillers|website=TheGuardian.com |date=14 September 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/14/frederick-forsyth-to-stop-writing-thrillers|access-date=16 September 2016}}
Death
Forsyth died at his home in Jordans, Buckinghamshire, on 9 June 2025, aged 86, following a brief illness.{{Cite web |date=9 June 2025 |title=The Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj4ljxv17xo |access-date=9 June 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-gb |archive-date=9 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250609170112/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj4ljxv17xo |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/09/frederick-forsyth-obituary|title=Frederick Forsyth obituary|first=Mike|last=Ripley|date=9 June 2025|access-date=10 June 2025|newspaper=The Guardian}}
Bibliography
The following four works listed above are not fictional novels or novellas: The Biafra Story (1969), Emeka (1982), Great Flying Stories (1991) and The Outsider (2015).
Filmography
As writer only.
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! class="unsortable" | Notes ! class="unsortable" | Ref. |
| 1973
| Adapted from The Day of the Jackal |
| 1974
| Adapted from The Odessa File |
| 1980
| Adapted from The Dogs of War |
| 1987
| Adapted from The Fourth Protocol |
| 1997
| Based on the 1973 film |
| 2023
| Adapted from The Shepherd |{{Cite web|url=https://abc7.com/the-shepherd-john-travolta-iain-softley-disney/14123484/|title=30 years in the making, Travolta stars in Iain Softley's adaptation of 'The Shepherd' on Disney+|date=30 November 2023|website=KABC-TV|access-date=June 14, 2025}} |
=Television=
=Theatre=
=Video=
=Video games=
=Music videos=
Music
Forsyth wrote lyrics to a lament titled "Fallen Soldier", with music by Gareth Ellis Williams, which was released as a single by Royal Opera House soprano Melissa Alder in 2016.{{Cite news |date=February 12, 2016 |title=Novelist Frederick Forsyth takes on lyricist role in song for soldiers |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/novelist-frederick-forsyth-takes-on-lyricist-role-in-song-for-soldiers/34446691.html |access-date=2025-06-14 |work=Belfast Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}
See also
References
{{Reflist
| refs =
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about= no}}
- [http://www.frederickforsyth.co.uk/ Frederick Forsyth official website]
- {{IMDb name|0287046|Frederick Forsyth}}
- {{discogs artist|Frederick Forsyth}}
- {{Citation | url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,457074,00.html | title = They Take The Mind, and What Emerges is Just Tapioca Pudding | newspaper = Der Spiegel | date = 29 December 2006 | type = interview | place = Germany}}
- {{NPG name|id=mp05961}}
{{Frederick Forsyth}}
{{The Day of the Jackal}}
{{Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Frederick}}
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:British expatriates in Nigeria
Category:Cartier Diamond Dagger winners
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Conservative Party (UK) people
Category:English spy fiction writers
Category:English thriller writers
Category:People educated at Tonbridge School
Category:People from Ashford, Kent
Category:Royal Air Force officers