The Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dead at 86
Prolific British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who instantly became a global bestselling author when his book The Day of the Jackal was published in 1971, died on Monday aged 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said.
Forsyth famously penned his most famous work about a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists in just 35 days after falling on hard times.
The Jackal went on to be made into a hit film starring Edward Fox as the assassin. A Netflix remake last year with Eddie Redmayne in the lead role was released last year.
'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers,' his agent Jonathan Lloyd said.
Published in 1971, The Day of The Jackal propelled Frederick Forsyth into global fame.
Forsyth died at home surrounded by his family following a brief illness, according to Curtis Brown.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament
British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament in London on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organisation. Advertisement The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside the police exclusion zone. The pro-Palestinian organisation is among groups that have regularly targeted defence firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza. British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organisation, putting it on a par with al-Qaeda or ISIS. London's Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament, a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes. Advertisement 'The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,' Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said.
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Bollywood dance video filmed at Oxford University goes viral on Instagram
A group of current and former Oxford University students have become an online sensation after a Bollywood-style video shot around the prestigious British campus went viral. The performance involving about seven friends was shot to Desi Boyz, the title track of the 2011 romantic comedy of the same name starring Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangada Singh. The idea for the clip came from Druv Punjabi, an Oxford alumnus who was born and raised in Hong Kong. 'This is something I had wanted to do for a long time,' says Punjabi by phone from Dubai, where he is now based. 'We really wanted to show off Oxford and the surrounding cityscape, so when the university said they were keen to collaborate it came as a bit of a shock.' Another shock was to follow, with the video blowing up online. So far it has racked up more than 240,000 views.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Listen Up: 32,000 children audition for lead roles in HBO's new ‘Harry Potter' series
Questions 1. What was the purpose of the casting call? A. to find writers B. to choose the leading actors C. to ask fans for ideas for the series D. to announce the release date of the series 2. How many children auditioned for the role of Hermione Granger? A. 500 B. 1,000 C. 32,000 D. information not given 3. Which word can replace 'lead' at the beginning of the podcast? A. important B. small C. first D. minor 4. What was the age requirement for the child actors? A. younger than five B. nine, 10 or 11 C. older than 11 D. at least 13 5. What does the 'titular' role in the podcast refer to? A. Daniel Radcliffe B. Dominic McLaughlin C. the character of Harry Potter D. the film Harry Potter 6. Who is playing the character of Albus Dumbledore in the HBO series? A. Paapa Essiedu B. Paul Whitehouse C. Luke Thallon D. John Lithgow 7. What role will Rowling have in the HBO series? A. director B. manager C. executive producer D. scriptwriter 8. Which of the following best describes the series? A. It will closely follow the original books. B. It will only feature a small part of the books. C. It will be very different from the original books. D. none of the above 9. How many people are there in a 'trio'? A. two B. three C. five D. seven 10. Which of these is not mentioned in the podcast as an expansion of the Harry Potter franchise? A. a stage play B. Fantastic Beasts movies C. theme park areas D. an animated series 11. Using information from the podcast, complete the following profile of the three leading actors. (4 marks) Dominic McLaughlin Before getting the main role as (i) __________, he studied acting in Scotland for (ii) __________. Alastair Stout The role of (iii) __________ is his first big acting job. Arabella Stanton The actress will play Hermione Granger. She acted in a (iv) __________ in London from 2023 to 2024. She was also in another play called Starlight Express. Each season of the HBO show will be based on one of these seven bestselling books. Photo: Shutterstock Answers 1. B 2. D 3. A 4. B 5. C 6. D 7. C 8. A 9. B 10. D 11. (i) Harry Potter; (ii) five years; (iii) Ron Weasley; (iv) musical Script Adapted from Tribune News Service and dpa Voice 1: The new HBO series based on Harry Potter has cast its main characters: Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. A casting call announced in September of last year attracted around 32,000 children who auditioned for the lead roles. According to HBO, the casting team reviewed up to 1,000 audition tapes each day. Voice 2: Dominic McLaughlin will play the brave Harry. Arabella Stanton will portray the clever Hermione. Alastair Stout will take on the role of the clumsy Ron. It was previously stated that the three young actors must be residents of either the United Kingdom or Ireland and be between the ages of nine and 11 as of April 2025. Filming is set to begin this summer, with the show scheduled to premiere next year. According to HBO, the three children are newcomers to the industry. Voice 1: Before landing the titular role in Harry Potter, Dominic studied at the Performance Academy Scotland for five years. He is set to appear in the upcoming BBC series Gifted, which follows Scottish teens who discover they have superpowers. Additionally, he will feature in the Sky film Grow, which tells the story of a grumpy pumpkin farmer and her orphaned niece. Voice 2: Harry Potter marks Alastair's first major role, and his only other credited appearance is in a commercial for Albert Bartlett potatoes. Arabella played Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical in London's West End from 2023 to 2024. The English actress also portrayed the narrator Control in Andrew Lloyd Webber's play Starlight Express in 2024. Voice 1: The previously announced cast members include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. Janet McTeer has been cast as Minerva McGonagall, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch. Voice 2: Author J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts and David Heyman will serve as executive producers for the HBO series. Each season of the show will faithfully adapt one of the Harry Potter books. The novels were previously adapted into films featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as the central trio. Voice 1: Along with the seven bestselling books and eight blockbuster films, the franchise also gave rise to the Fantastic Beasts movie prequels featuring Eddie Redmayne, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and areas at the Universal theme parks.
