Ludlam, Robert

Robert Ludlum (Robert Ludlum) was born in May 1927 in New York. His father, George Ludlum, died when the boy was only 7 years old, and therefore he spent most of his life in New Jersey, where he lived with distant relatives. It was there that the boy began to study at Rectory School, and then continued his education, enrolling at Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, Connecticut, where he became a member of the informal student fraternity Alpha Delta Phi.

Robert began quite early to think about the choice of his future profession - he equally wanted to be a professional footballer, military man, actor and writer; however, when the boy was 16 years old, he was offered a role in the comedy production of “Junior Miss,” which completely changed his life. In 1945, he joined the army, where he served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific Ocean.

It is known that in the first few months spent there, Ludlam accumulated several hundred pages with his impressions of his service in the Navy.

After returning to Middletown, Robert graduated from the university in 1951 with a bachelor of arts degree. In the same year, he married Mary (Mary Ryducha), with whom he had three children.

1950s

In the 1950s, Ludlam very often appeared in television shows and TV shows, the most famous of which were The Kraft Television Theater, Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents. In 1954, he played the role of Spartak in the film “The Gladiator”, and in 1959 he played the role of a soldier in the television production of Fritz Hochwälder ’s play “The Strong Are Lonely” (“The Strong Are Lonely” "). In 1957, Robert got a job as a producer at North Jersey Playhouse, and two years later he opened the Playhouse-on-the-Mall Theater in Paramus, New Jersey.

1970s

Until 1971, Ludlem was only writing plays for his theater, many of which, however, also got on Broadway. At the end of 1971, his first book, The Scarlatti Inheritance, was published, telling the story of an American soldier during World War II. As the author himself later told, the book was published only on the tenth attempt, but, despite the concerns of the publishers, the novel instantly became a bestseller. The next work of the writer was the book “Weekend Osterman” (“Osterman Weekend”), published in 1973, and in 1983 appeared the same film adaptation of the book, directed by Sam Peckinpah.

Robert moved to New York with his family in 1970, and he also had a home in Florida. At that time, Ludlam traveled a lot to gather enough material for new stories. As Robert himself has said more than once, Paris has always been his favorite city.

Bourne Identity

In 1980, a book was published titled The Bourne Identity, which brought worldwide fame to the author and also marked the beginning of a series of books on the Bourne. According to the plot of the book, the main character - Born , a former CIA agent, was found without memory in the sea; throughout the book he tries to remember who he is; in 1988, the film of the same name was released ; The second film adaptation of the book was released in 2002.

In 1986 and 1990, the books The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum were published, which respectively became a continuation of the saga.

Some of Ludlam’s books were published under his pseudonyms: Michael Shepherd or Jonathan Ryder.

Graduation

His last book was The Prometheus Deception, published in 2000.

Robert Ludlam died at the age of 73, on March 12, 2001, from a heart attack. During his writing career, he has authored more than 20 books translated into 32 languages, the total circulation of which amounted to more than 200 million copies.

After Ludlam’s death, several of his manuscripts were discovered, one of which, “The Ambler Warning”, was published in 2005 in the original language; in 2006 it was translated into Russian and released in Russia, where it became a real bestseller .

• The Scarlatti Inheritance ( The Scarlatti Inheritance , 1971)
• Osterman Weekend ( The Osterman Weekend , 1972)
• “ Matlock Paper ” ( “ The Matlock Paper ” , 1973)
• Trevayne (1973, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Ryder)
• The Call of Halidon ( The Cry of the Halidon , 1974, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Ryder)
• The Rhinemann Exchange (1974)
• The Road to Gandolfo (1975, written under the pseudonym Michael Shephard)
• Rival twins ( The Gemini Contenders , 1976)
• The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)
• The Testament of Holcroft ( The Holcroft Covenant , 1978)
• The Matarese Circle (1979)
• The Bourne Identity , (1980)
• The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)
• “ The Aquitaine Progression Conspiracy” (1984)
• The Bourne Supremacy (1986)
• " The Icarus Agenda " , (1988)
• The Bourne Ultimatum (1990)
• The Road to Omaha (1992)
• The Scorpio Illusion (1993)
• " The Apocalypse Watch " , (1995)
• " The Matarese Countdown " , (1997)
• The Trick of Prometheus ( The Prometheus Deception , 2000)
• “ The Sigma Protocol” ( The Sigma Protocol, 2001)
• The Ambler Warning ( 2005 )

Some of Ludlam’s novels were filmed, films and mini-series were shot, although the plot lines may differ significantly from the original material. Mini-series, as a rule, are closer to the text of the novel on which they are shot.

• 1977 - Raineman's Deal - mini-series - Stephen Collins as David Spalding, Lauren Hatton as Leslie Jenner Hookwood
• 1983 - Osterman's Weekend - film - Rutger Hauer as John Tanner, directed by Sam Pekinpa
• 1985 - The Testament of Holcroft - Cinema - Michael Kane as Noel Holcroft
• 1988 - The Secret of Bourne's Personality - mini-series - Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne, Jacqueline Smith as Marie Saint-Jacques
• 1997 - Guardian of the Apocalypse - series - Patrick Bergin as Drew Latham
• 2002 - Bourne Identity - film - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne and Frank Potente as Maria Elena Kreutz
• 2004 - Bourne Supremacy - film - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
• 2006 - Aida Factor (from the Covert One series ) - mini-series - Stephen Dorff as John Smith, Mira Sorvino as Rachel Russell
• 2007 - The Bourne Ultimatum - film - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
• 2012 - The Bourne Evolution - film - cast: Jeremy Renner , Rachel Weiss and Edward Norton
• 2016 - Jason Bourne - film - starring Matt Damon , Alicia Wickander , Tommy Lee Jones
• 201? - Chancellor’s manuscript - film - Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Chanceloore, work on the film is not finished

• ludlumbooks.com