Fleming, Ian Lancaster (1908-1964)

A portrait of the English author Ian Fleming, taken in New York in February 1962. Between 1952 and his death in 1964, he wrote 13 thrillers based on the adventures of his character James Bond, the tough, suave secret agent 007. The last of these, The Man with the Golden Gun, was published posthumously in 1965.

English author. His suspense novels feature the ruthless, laconic James Bond, British Secret Service agent 007. The first novel in the series was Casino Royale (1953); others include From Russia with Love (1957), Goldfinger (1959), and The Man with the Golden Gun (1965). Most of the novels were made into a successful series of Bond films.

During World War II he worked for British Intelligence where he had the opportunity to give full rein to his vivid imagination in disseminating false information and rumours.

Fleming was born in London, the son of an army officer who died in World War I. He was educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and Munich and Geneva universities. After a number of years with Reuters news agency, he worked successively with banking and stockbroking firms, and in World War II was personal assistant to the director of naval intelligence.