All About John Gardner

2008-01-02 15:25:09

( Garden )



John Gardner's Early Life and Writing Career

Born in 1926, John Gardner was the son of an English clergyman who joined the Royal Marines during the second World War. He tried to follow his father's footsteps and was ordained but later withdrew from the clergy to become a writer.

He began a novelist career in 1964 with his first spy thriller about a cowardly man who was mistaken as a tough British spy. The novel was created into a movie and was followed by more novels of the same character.

Since then, John Gardner continued to write and create new, more serious spy characters. He also wrote novels that featured spin-off characters from other famous novels such as that of the Sherlock Holmes series.

John Gardner's Later Writing Career

The original author of the highly acclaimed James Bond thriller novels had been Ian Fleming. However, Fleming passed away in 1964 due to a heart attack, leaving behind more than ten successful Bond novels and short stories. Little by little, the novels were adapted into blockbuster movies.

John Gardner was already moderately successful with his spy thrillers and other novels, when he was asked to continue the James Bond series in 1981. Surpassing his predecessor, Gardner wrote fourteen more novels and two film novelizations featuring the famous secret agent during the 80s and 90s. However, Gardner officially retired from writing the Bond novels in 1996, and continued to write stories about other characters of his own creation. His latest character before his death in 2007 was a female World War II detective.

Popularity of John Gardner's Novels

His earliest series on Boysie Oakes was immensely successfully because of its lighthearted humor. Gardner also had a following for his other characters.

Out of the fourteen Bond thrillers he wrote, several have made it to the big screen. The novels themselves were also huge commercial successes.

John Gardner's fans have made an exclusive website in his honor.

He is not in any way related to the genealogist and history lecturer Laurence Gardner.


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