His younger half-sister was the actress Charlotte Cornwell (1949–2021), and his younger half-brother, Rupert Cornwell (1946-2017), was a former Washington bureau chief for The Independent. His older brother, Tony (1929–2017), was an advertising executive and county cricketer (for Dorset), who later lived in the United States. His father was Ronald Thomas Archibald (Ronnie) Cornwell (1905–75), and his mother was Olive Moore Cornwell (née Glassey, b.

Early life Childhood ĭavid John Moore Cornwell was born on 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England. Philip Roth said that A Perfect Spy (1986) was 'the best English novel since the war'. His novels which have been adapted for film or television include The Looking Glass War (1965), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), Smiley's People (1979), The Little Drummer Girl (1983), The Night Manager (1993), The Tailor of Panama (1996), The Constant Gardener (2001), A Most Wanted Man (2008), and Our Kind of Traitor (2010). This success allowed him to leave MI6 to become a full-time author. Le Carré's third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), became an international best-seller, was adapted as an award-winning film and remains one of his best-known works. During the 1950s and 1960s he worked for both the Security Service ( MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service ( MI6). 'A sophisticated, morally ambiguous writer', he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era. David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 1931 – 12 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( / l ə ˈ k ær eɪ/ lə- KARR-ay), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television.

John le carre 1979