Tom Clancy Biography

Thomas Leo Clancy was born on 12 April 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland and was educated at Loyola College, graduating in 1969. He married his first wife Wanda in the same year.

He worked as an insurance broker until he wrote his first novel in 1984, 'The Hunt for Red October', about the defection of a Russian submarine crew. The book made the New York Times best seller list, after President Ronald Reagan openly praised it. His first book was turned into the hit 1990 movie with the same name and starred Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin.

This was followed by 'Red Storm Rising' in 1986 and 'Patriot Games' in 1987. The latter featured the CIA agent Jack Ryan, who first appeared in 'Red October', who foils an attack on the Prince and Princess of Wales.

'Patriot Games' was also turned into a hit film in 1992, with Harrison Ford playing the part of Ryan. In 1988, Clancy wrote 'The Cardinal in the Kremlin', in which Ryan forces the head of the KGB to defect.

Other Ryan novels include 'Clear and Present Danger' (1989), 'The Sum of All Fears' (1991), 'Without Remorse' (1993) 'Debt of Honor' (1994), 'Executive Orders' (1996), 'Rainbow Six' (1997) and 'The Bear and the Dragon' (2000), to name just a few.

'Clear and Present Danger' was adapted into a film in 1994, with Harrison Ford once again in the lead role, while 'The Sum of All Fears' was made into a movie starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman in 2002.

His crafting of plausible military scenarios is so realistic that he has become a favourite of the United States Military and Intelligence services. Pentagon officials regularly provide him with background material for new projects, and he was even offered a position as an unpaid consultant to the National Space Council.

Clancy's books have repeatedly earned No.1 rankings on the New York Times Bestseller list; nearly fifty million copies of his books have been printed, many have been made into movies, and they are even considered required reading at U.S. military academies. He is also a writer of military history, biography, and non-fiction guides to military hardware.

In 1996 Clancy founded Red Storm Entertainment, to create and market multimedia computer games based on his stories. This proved a hugely successful venture, and Clancy eventually sold the company for $45 million.

In 1999, he formally divorced Wanda, following their second separation in 1997. The same year, Clancy married freelance journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn.

In light of the events of September 11, 2001, Clancy's prescience in predicting future events was borne out by one of his novels, which featured a suicide attack against the U.S. Capitol Building by a terrorist flying a hijacked 747.

He has become a fixture on US lists of wealthiest entertainers, is co-owner of the Baltimore Orioles, and owns both his own railroad car and tank.

Clancy continues to write novels, and paperback editions of 'Tom Clancy Presents: Acts of Valour' and 'Locked On' featuring Jack Ryan were released in 2012. His latest novel is called 'Search and Destroy' and is set to be released in June 2012.