George Langelaan

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George Langelaan
Born(1908-01-19)19 January 1908
Paris, France
Died9 February 1972(1972-02-09) (aged 64)
Nationality
The Fly
"

George Langelaan (19 January 1908 – 9 February 1972) was a French-British[citation needed] writer and journalist born in Paris, France.

He is best known for his 1957 short story "The Fly", which was the basis for the 1958 and 1986 sci-fi/horror films and a 2008 opera of the same name.

Career

During

Croix de guerre
.

Langelaan was a friend of the occultist Aleister Crowley, claiming he was a spy and "that by winning the confidence of the Germans in America, he had access to members of their inner circle."[1]

In the 1950s and 1960s he wrote his memoirs, novels, and short stories that were made into motion pictures and were featured on television.

He died on February 9, 1972, less than a month after his 64th birthday.

Short stories

"The Fly"

Of all his literary works, he is best remembered for his 1957 short story "

Playboy
magazine. The story itself has been adapted to the screen twice:

The 1958 film spawned two sequels; the 1986 film had one.

It was also adapted into an opera by Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore, which was premiered in 2008 and played Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet, and was directed by David Cronenberg with a libretto by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang.

Bibliography

His books and short fiction include:

  • One Named Langdon: Memories of a Secret Agent or Un nommé Langdon (1950)
  • "
    Herbert Van Thal
    , 1960)
  • "Strange Miracle" (in Argosy, August 1958)
  • The Masks of War: From Dunkirk to D-Day—The Masquerades of a British Intelligence Agent (1959) American edition published by Doubleday
  • The Knights of the Floating Silk (1959)
  • "Elaine" (in Argosy, January 1959)
  • "Danse Macabre" (in Argosy, April 1959)
  • "Albatross" (in Argosy, December 1959)
  • "The Secret Notebooks of Agent P.P. 751" (1960–1963) series in the publication Controls
  • "I Rescued a Harem Wife" (in Suspense, August 1960)
  • "Cold Blood" (in New Worlds, October 1961)
  • "The Other Hand" (in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1961)
  • "Zombie Express Train" (1964)
  • "The Dolphin Speaks Too" (1964)
  • Out of Time (collection, 1964)
  • "Attack-Rifle-2nd"
  • "Torpedo the Torpedo"
  • "Salad of Heads" (1965)
  • The Flight of Anti-G or Le Vol de l'anti-G (1968)
  • "The Thinking Robots" or "The Collector of Brains", "Les Robots pensants" in French
  • Turncoat (1967)
  • The New Parasites or Les Nouveaux parasites in French, with Jean Barral (1969)
  • Thirteen Phantoms or Treize fantomes (1971)

Screen adaptations

The following movies and television episodes were based on his short stories:

Honors

His 1957 short story classic "The Fly" received Playboy magazine's Best Fiction Award and was selected for inclusion in the Annual of the Year's Best Science Fiction.

References

External links