Frederick Forsyth dies: Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent passes away aged 86

Legendary Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth has died following a brief illness aged 86. 

The former MI6 agent, who became one of the youngest ever RAF pilots at 17 and then a journalist, published more than 25 books in his lifetime. 

The clever plot of Forsyth’s debut novel The Day of the Jackal continues to grip readers even today. 

A statement released by his literary agent, Curtis Brown, revealed he died at home after the short illness surrounded by his family. 

Mr Forsyth’s agent Jonathan Lloyd said in a statement: ‘We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers.

‘Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life – In My Own Words, to be released later this year on BBC1 – and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived.’ 

Mr Lloyd said the author used ‘his gift for languages in German, French and Russian’ to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra.

‘Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a Secret Service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel,’ the agent added. 

‘He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world – though his books will of course live on forever.’ 

Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth has died after a brief illness at the age of 86

A photo dated November 26, 1984 of Forsyth in Helsinki. The author has passed away, his agent said 

The clever plot of Forsyth’s debut novel the Day of the Jackal continues to grip readers today

The star could speak fluent French and German by the time he was 15, and mastered Spanish – and rudimentary Russian – a couple of years later.

He was accepted by the RAF aged just 17, thereafter becoming its youngest ever jet pilot. 

In his 20s, he was Reuters correspondent in Paris and then in Berlin, where he also began doing occasional missions for MI6.

Less than a decade later, after reporting on the war in Biafra, he wrote The Day Of The Jackal in 35 days, and has since sold well over 70 million books.  

The clever plot of Forsyth’s debut novel continues to grip readers even today. 

The 1971 novel tells the story of a professional assassin who is hired to kill Charles de Gaulle.

It lays out in meticulous detail the lengths that the killer – who is codenamed the Jackal – goes to in order to carry out his mission.

A key part of the plot was the Jackal’s theft of the identity of a dead child so he could get an official birth certificate and passport.

The method laid out in the book was later used by real criminals and became known as ‘Day of the Jackal fraud’.

The former MI6 agent, who was one of the youngest ever RAF pilots and a former journalist, published more than 25 books in his lifetime 

Forsyth and his wife arriving at stud House in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, London, in 2010 

Forsyth later admitted that he personally stole a dead baby’s name and details to convince himself the storyline would work in real life.

Having found one, the author then obtained a birth certificate and applied for a passport in the name of a boy called Duggan – later used in the novel.

‘I did exactly what the Jackal did,’ he said. I found the grave of this little boy – James Oliver Duggan – in a churchyard in the Home Counties.’

Forsyth also gave a fake witness to support his application. He said: ‘I just invented a church minister in North Wales – somewhere where I thought the Passport Office wouldn’t bother to check.

‘All of it went into the package, along with the fee and the birth certificate for a person who no longer existed because he’d died as a child.

‘I used a local newsagent as a poste restante, asking him if he’d be so kind, for a very small fee, to take in my mail while I was away abroad.’

The novel was turned into a film starring Edward Fox as The Jackal in 1973.

It went on to win a Bafta award for best editing and was also nominated for an Oscar.

It is ranked as the 74th greatest British film of the 20th century.