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Author Tom Clancy, Whose Novels Have Been Widely Adapted for Feature Films and TV, Dead at 66

Oct 2, 2013  •  Post A Comment

Novelist Tom Clancy, whose books including "The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Sum of All Fears" have been widely adapted into a variety of media including feature films, television productions and video games, has died, USA Today reports.

Clancy reportedly died Tuesday night at Johns Hopkins Hospital, near his home in Baltimore, after what is being described as a brief illness. He was 66.

"Born in Baltimore, Clancy was an insurance salesman before he went on to write blockbuster espionage books," USA Today reports. The piece adds: "Clancy had seven No. 1 USA Today best sellers, either solo or with a co-author, and 53 books total in the top 150, solo or with a co-author."

The report notes: "The books spawned commercially successful films with actors Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck as Clancy’s famous fictional character Jack Ryan. Clancy’s other famous character, John Clark, has been played by actors Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber."

Clancy’s first "NetForce" novel was adapted into a 1999 television movie starring Scott Bakula. In 1995, NBC aired the miniseries "Tom Clancy’s Op-Center," starring Harry Hamlin.

His writings have also been the basis of a number of video games, including releases in the "Splinter Cell" and "Rainbow Six" series.

Clancy’s editor, Tom Colgan, told USA Today in 2011, following the release of "Against All Enemies": "Tom’s novels have always been prescient, whether they were about technology or military tactics or geo-political maneuvering."

USA Today adds: "Clancy and his first wife, Wanda, married in 1969, and divorced in 1999. He went on to marry freelance journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, whom he had met in 1997."

A new Jack Ryan novel, "Command Authority," is due to be published Dec. 3.

tom clancy.jpgTom Clancy

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