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- Alan Hunter was born on 25 June 1922 in Hoveton St John, Norfolk, England, UK. Alan was a writer, known for Inspector George Gently (2007). Alan was married to Adelaide Cooper. Alan died on 26 February 2005 in Brundall, Norfolk, England, UK.
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Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK as Norman Colin Dexter, he was an English writer, best known for the Inspector Morse series of novels. His parents were Alfred and Dorothy Dexter, his father run a small taxi company. He had a brother, John, and a sister, Avril. He attended St. John's Infants School, Bluecoat Junior School, and then - gaining a scholarship - Stamford School. After graduation, Dexter served in the Royal Corps of Signals as his national service. He then studied Classics at Christ's College, Cambridge, which he graduated in 1953, followed by receiving a master's degree in 1958. He worked a teacher in various schools from 1954 to 1966, when an onset of deafness forced him to change jobs. He then worked as a senior assistant secretary at the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations until his retirement in 1988. In 1972 Dexter published his first mystery fiction book, entitled Last Bus to Woodstock. The book introduced the character of inspector Morse, who appeared in further 12 novels written by Dexter. In 1987 the first episode of a screen adaptation of the novels, Inspector Morse (1987), was aired. The show run for 7 seasons followed by 5 special episodes, the last one of which aired in 2000. It was followed by a spin-off entitled Inspector Lewis (2006) and a prequel entitled Endeavour (2012). Dexter was involved in the making of all these shows and had small cameos in most episodes. His writings received a number of awards from the Crime Writers' Association and in 2000 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature. He was married to Dorothy Cooper from 1956 until his death; they had daughter, Sally, and a son, Jeremy. Dexter died on 21 March 2017 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Ann Cleeves was born on 24 October 1954 in Hereford, England, UK. She is a writer, known for Vera (2011), Shetland (2013) and The Long Call (2021). She was previously married to Tim Cleeves.
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Peter Robinson was born on 17 March 1950 in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for DCI Banks (2010), Fan Mail (2002) and Downtime (1995). He was married to Sheila Halladay. He died on 4 October 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Writer
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Ian Rankin was born on 28 April 1960 in Cardenden, Fife, Scotland, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Murder Island (2021), Rebus and Rebus (2000). He has been married to Anna Miranda Harvey since 5 July 1986. They have two children.- Writer
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Born in North London, he attended Orley Farm Prep School. Then, he attended Rugby School and he graduated from York University. He wrote his first book when he was only 23 years old. Not only is he a talented screenwriter, he has written over 20 books for children. He continues to write and a list of his books is below. His most recent film project has been from 2002-2005 as the creator and screenwriter of Foyle's War (2002) series 1, 2, and 3. His wife, Jill Green joins him as producer on this series. He and Jill have two sons, Nicholas and Cassian.- Writer
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Henning Mankell was born on 3 February 1948 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a writer and director, known for Young Wallander (2020), Et lite grøss? (1973) and Hets. He was married to Eva Bergman. He died on 5 October 2015 in Göteborg, Sweden.- Writer
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Maj Sjöwall was born on 25 September 1935 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was a writer and actress, known for Man on the Roof (1976), Mördaren - En helt vanlig person (1967) and Mannen på balkongen (1993). She was married to Hans J Flodquist and Gunnar Isaksson. She died on 29 April 2020 in Landskrona, Skåne län, Sweden.- Per Wahlöö was born on 5 August 1926 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was a writer, known for Man on the Roof (1976), Mördaren - En helt vanlig person (1967) and Nattmara (1965). He was married to Sylvia Nilsson and Inger Andersson. He died on 22 June 1975 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden.
- Helene Tursten was born on 17 February 1954 in Annedal, Göteborg, Sweden. She is a writer, known for Irene Huss (2007) and AdamLive (2011).
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Camilla Ahlgren was born on 3 July 1964 in Lund, Sweden. She is a writer, known for The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and The Bridge (2011).- Writer
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Søren Sveistrup was born on 7 January 1968 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a writer and producer, known for Forbrydelsen (2007), The Snowman (2017) and The Day Will Come (2016).- Writer
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Sally Wainwright was born in 1964 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK. She is a writer and producer, known for Happy Valley (2014), Last Tango in Halifax (2012) and Gentleman Jack (2019).- Writer
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- Stieg Larsson's three novels (collectively known as "The Millennium Series") were published posthumously, and each became a feature film. They were entitled (for the American market) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (originally published in 2005), The Girl Who Played with Fire (originally published in 2006), and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (originally published in 2007). The feature films retained the same titles for the American market.
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Dorte Warnøe Høgh is known for Grisen (2008), The Chestnut Man (2021) and When the Dust Settles (2020).- Writer
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Edward St. Aubyn is known for Patrick Melrose (2018), Mother's Milk (2011) and Efter tio (2006). He was previously married to Nicola Shulman.- E.M. Forster was born on 1 January 1879 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Howards End (1992), A Room with a View (1985) and The Machine Stops (2009). He died on 7 June 1970 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK.
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Jo Nesbø is a world-renowned crime writer recognized for broadening the scope of modern crime and thriller fiction. His books have garnered countless international awards, sold over forty million copies, and been translated into fifty languages. In addition to the Harry Hole series he is the author of stand-alone novels Headhunters and The Son, as well as several children's books in the Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder series. Had a prosperous future in soccer, until an injury TO his knees stopped him. He then started playing in a band, and found he had a talent of songwriting. He co-founded the group Di Derre, which quickly became one of the greatest Norwegian bands. In late nineties he was asked to write a documentary about a tour in Australia, instead he ended up writing "Flaggermusmannen", his first novel and the first book about Harry Hole.- Tim Parks was born on 19 December 1954 in Manchester, England, UK. He is a writer, known for Stille (2013), Assholes: A Theory (2019) and Le invasioni barbariche (2004).
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Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840 in Upper Bockhampton, Dorset, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), Tess (1979) and Maiden No More. He was married to Florence Emily Dugdale and Emma Lavinia Gifford. He died on 11 January 1928 in Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK.- Writer
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Michel Faber was born in 1960 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. Michel is a writer and producer, known for Under the Skin (2013), Oasis (2017) and In the Woods with a Dead Dog (2021).- P.F. Thomése was born on 23 January 1958 in Doetinchem, Gelderland, Netherlands. He is a writer, known for J. Kessels (2015), Here After (2007) and Pownews (2010).
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Ian McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Atonement (2007), The Good Son (1993) and Enduring Love (2004). He has been married to Annalena McAfee since 1997. He was previously married to Penny Allen.- Writer
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Sometimes described as a genius and sometimes as a talentless hack, Russell T. Davies is one of the most prominent - and polarising - British television writers of his generation, who specializes in emotional dramas, frequently with gay and sex-related adult themes. He was born in Swansea, Wales (UK) in 1963. After initially taking a BBC Television director's course in the 1980s, he briefly moved in front of the cameras to present a single episode of the BBC's version of Play School (1964) in 1987, before deciding that his abilities lay in production rather than presenting.
Working for the children's department at BBC Manchester, from 1988 to 1992 he was the producer of summertime activity show Why Don't You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead? (1973) which ironically showcased various things children could be doing rather than sitting at home watching the television. While serving as the producer of "Why Don't You?" he also made his first forays into writing for television, creating a children's sketch show for early Saturday mornings on BBC One called Breakfast Serials (1990).
In 1991, he wrote his first television drama, a six-part serial for children entitled Dark Season (1991) for BBC One, which effectively comprised of two different three-part stories based around a science-fiction / adventure theme. The production was very low budget but nevertheless successful, and noteworthy for showcasing the acting talents of a young Kate Winslet. Two years later he wrote another equally well-received science-fiction drama in the same vein, entitled Century Falls (1993).
In 1992, he moved to Granada Television, producing and writing for their successful children's hospital drama Children's Ward (1989). One of the episodes Davies wrote for this series won a BAFTA Children's Award for Best Drama in 1996. At Granada he also began to break into working for adult television, contributing an episode to the ITV crime quiz show Cluedo (1990), a programme based on the popular board game of the same name, in 1993, and also working on the daytime soap opera Families (1990). He continued working on "Children's Ward" until 1995, by which time he was already consolidating his position outside of children's programming with the comedy The House of Windsor (1994) and camp soap opera Revelations (1994).
After a brief stint as a storyliner on ITV's flagship soap opera Coronation Street (1960) (for which he later wrote the straight-to-video spin-off Coronation Street: Viva Las Vegas! (1997)) and contributions to Channel 4's Springhill (1996), the following year he wrote and created the hotel-set mainstream period drama The Grand (1997) for prime time ITV, winning a reputation for good writing and high audience figures. He contributed to the first series of the acclaimed ITV drama Touching Evil (1997), before beginning his fruitful collaboration with the independent Red Productions company.
His first series for Red was the ground-breaking adult gay drama Queer as Folk (1999), which caused much comment and drew much praise when screened on Channel 4 in early 1999. A sequel followed in 2000 and a US version, which still runs successfully in that country to this day, was commissioned by the Showtime cable network there. In 2001 he followed this up with another popular mini-series with a gay theme for Red, Bob & Rose (2001), this time screened on the mainstream ITV channel in prime time. After writing an episode for a Red series he had not created, Linda Green (2001) (shown on BBC1) in early 2003 he wrote the religious telefantasy drama The Second Coming (2003) starring Christopher Eccleston, which cemented his position as one of the UK's foremost writers of TV drama.
His other work includes another Red mini series for ITV, Mine All Mine (2004), a series about the life of Casanova (2005) which made a star of David Tennant and the screenplay for a film version of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1998) cheating scandal. Most famously, he is the chief writer and executive producer of the BBC's big budget revival of Doctor Who (2005), as well as the spin-offs Torchwood (2006), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) and Wizards vs. Aliens (2012). He subsequently created more gay drama with Cucumber (2015) and the sex-themed documentary series Tofu (2015). He has also written A Very English Scandal (2018), which stars the legendary Hugh Grant as gay Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, whose political career was destroyed by conspiracy to murder allegations. He then won further acclaim with his serial It's a Sin (2021), written about the HIV/AIDS crisis which swept through the gay community in the 1980s.
Outside of television and film, his prose work has included the novelization of Dark Season (1991) and an original "Doctor Who" novel, "Damaged Goods", for Virgin Publishing in 1996.
He lives in Manchester, UK.