Ludlum, Robert (1927-2001)

US writer. With the publication of his first espionage novel, The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971), he became a successful writer of suspense fiction. Other novels include The Rhinemann Exchange (1974), The Bourne Identity (1980, filmed 2002), The Icarus Agenda (1988), and The Janson Directive (2002).

Ludlum was born in New York City. He served in the Marine Corps (1944-46) and studied at Wesleyan College, graduating with a BA in 1951. He then became a Broadway and television actor (1952-60), and a theatre producer in New Jersey (1957-70) and New York City (1960-69).