Having worked for MI5 and MI6 during the 1950s and 1960s, David Cornwell became one of the greatest spy novelists of all time under his pen name John le Carré.
His intelligence officer character George Smiley, a short, balding and overweight man with glasses, was created as a more accurate and ordinary British intelligence officer, intentionally contrasting with the romantic James Bond.
At least 10 actors, including Gary Oldman, have portrayed Smiley in film and TV adaptations of the novels.
The Oscar-winning star portrays the ageing spymaster in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, in which he must uncover a Soviet mole at MI6 during the early 1970s.
Critically acclaimed and a box office hit, the spy film co-stars Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch. The BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated film (including a Best Actor nod for Oldman) is considered a modern spy classic.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is streaming now on Netflix and Amazon Prime.