Len Deighton

Len Deighton ( born February 18, 1929 in London) is an English illustrator and author.

Life

Len Deighton was born in 1929 in London's Marylebone district as the son of Anglo-Irish parents. His father worked as a chauffeur of the family of Campbell Dodgson, who was in charge at the British Museum of Prints and Drawings. During the Second World War, the Deightons lived in the household of Dodgson, in which the young Deighton received good opportunities for observation of life in the various walks of life. His interest in food Deighton shared with his mother, who worked as a cook in a hotel.

The war interrupted Deightons regular education at St Marylebone Grammar School. He worked as a courier and after school for some time as a railroad worker. At the age of 17 he joined the Royal Air Force, in which he was employed as a photographer in the Special Investigation Branch. In 1949, Deighton left the armed forces. A scholarship for former service members enabled him to enroll at the St.Martin ' s School of Art. Later he studied at the Royal College of Art Also for its development as a writer this year were important. In an interview Deighton said: " I ​​believe that the reason that members of the working class to write books is that they are convinced that only selected people are allowed to write books. "

During the 1950s Deighton worked in a variety of professions - he was a waiter in Piccadilly, Vice Pastry Chef at the Royal Festival Hall, factory managers, teachers in Brittany, illustrator in New York, news photographer and director of an advertising agency in London. As a steward of the British Overseas Airways Corporation 1956-57 he traveled to many exotic places. 1960 Deighton married Shirley Thompson, an illustrator. Later, he lived with his family on a farm near the Mourne Mountains in Ireland and in Portugal.

In the 1960s, Deighton wrote a weekly series of illustrated French cooking recipes for the London Observer. His first cookbook Action Cookbook: Len Deighton 's Guide to Eating was published in 1965. The novel, which determined his breakthrough as an author, The Ipcress File ( 1962), Deighton ended in France on the Ile de Porquerolles. He was by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.. published and immediately a great success. The critics judged him " better than Fleming " with. The book was translated into several languages ​​and published as a series in the London Evening Standard. Dissatisfied with The Ipcress File Deighton began soon after he had signed the contract for his debut novel to write Horse Under Water (1963). His publisher was not interested to read his design - the first book was not published - and Deighton handed his manuscript to a Tom Maschler of Jonathan Cape. Cape remained until the 1980s, his publisher.

Awards

Films

• In good faith winter (A Berlin Family 1899-1945 ), 1987