Alistair MacLean

Alistair MacLean
MacLean, late in life
Born	(1922-04-21)21 April 1922 Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland
Died	2 February 1987(1987-02-02) (aged 64) Munich, West Germany
Resting place	Céligny, Switzerland
Nationality	Scottish
Other names	Ian Stuart
Education	Daviot local system Inverness Royal Academy Hillhead High School
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Occupation(s)	Author, teacher
Years active	1955–1986
Employer(s)	Royal Navy (1941–1946) Gallowflat School (1946–1956)
Known for	Thrillers
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Spouses	Gisela Heinrichsen ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1972)​ Mary Marcelle Georgius ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1977)​
Children	3

Alistair Stuart MacLean (Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.^[1]

According to one obituary, "he never lost his love for the sea, his talent for portraying good Brits against bad Germans, or his penchant for high melodrama. Critics deplored his cardboard characters and vapid females, but readers loved his combination of hot macho action, wartime commando sagas, and exotic settings that included Greek Islands and Alaskan oil fields."^[2]