John le Carré, the celebrated author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, has died from pneumonia. He passed away Saturday night at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. "We all deeply grieve his passing,” his family wrote in a statement.
The author was born in 1931 and spent time working for the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service during the 1950s and 1960s.
He used this material for many of his well-known books.
His most popular novel is his 1963 masterpiece, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
The Night Manager, The Constant Gardener and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy are just some of le Carré's famous works.
Jonny Geller, chief executive of the Curtis Brown Group described le Carré as an "undisputed giant of English literature."
"He defined the cold war era and fearlessly spoke truth to power in the decades that followed … I have lost a mentor, an inspiration and most importantly, a friend.
"We will not see his like again.”
How much money did the writer earn during his career?
John le Carré's net worth
According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, John le Carré has a net worth of $100million (£75million).
The much-lauded author was born David Cornwell.
He began working for the secret services while studying German in Switzerland at the end of the 1940s.
After a stint teaching at Eton, he joined the British Foreign Service as an intelligence officer.
During his time with MI5, and inspired by his colleague, the novelist John Bingham, he began writing novels using the pseudonym of John le Carré.
George Smiley became le Carré's most famous character.
He appeared in the author's 1961 debut, Call for the Dead, then in the 1962 work A Murder of Quality.
By the time Smiley featured in the novelist's third book, le Carré's star was in ascendance.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was deemed “the best spy story I have ever read” by fellow author Graham Greene.
Three Smiley novels followed in the 1970s: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People.
His books were soon snapped up by film and television, adding to le Carré's considerable fortune.
Most recently, The Night Manager, in 2016, starred Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.
The latest adaptation was The Little Drummer Girl in 2018, with Alexander Skarsgårdr and Florence Pugh.
This article originally appeared on Express.
