George MacDonald Fraser


1925 - 2008

Author and journalist. Born in Carlisle, Fraser was the son of a Scottish physician. He was educated at Carlisle Grammar School and the Glasgow Academy. During World War II, he fought with the Border Regiment in Burma and then the Gordon Highlanders in the Middle East. He then joined the Glasgow Herald newspaper, serving as Deputy Editor between 1964-69. Fraser resigned to follow a freelance career as an author and screenplay writer. He is best known for his Flashman series of novels which took the fictional bully from Tom Brown's School Days and placed him in various accurate historical settings. These include Flashman at the Charge (1973) which takes the cowardly hero to the Crimea and Flashman in the Great Game (1975) which sees him in India. He is said to have written almost thirty screenplays, with the more successful including The Three Musketeers (1973), Force 10 From Navarone (1978), adapted from Alistair MacLean's novel, and the Bond film Octopussy (1983). He also contributed to the scripts for two of the Superman films.

Fraser was awarded an OBE in 1999 and died at his home on the Isle of Man.


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