The Bourne Identity

Robert Ludlum was a master of the international espionage thriller, best known as the creator of the iconic character Jason Bourne. Born in New York City on May 25, 1927, Ludlum served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II before pursuing his higher education. He attended Wesleyan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama in 1951, a background that heavily influenced the dramatic pacing and cinematic structure of his later novels. Before finding his true calling as a novelist, Ludlum spent twenty years working in the entertainment industry as a theater actor, voice-over artist, and successful producer. He notably established the Playhouse on the Mall in New Jersey, which was one of America's first theaters located inside a shopping mall. At the age of 42, seeking more creative freedom, he pivoted away from the theatrical arts to write full-time. He burst onto the literary scene with his 1971 debut novel, The Scarlatti Inheritance, which instantly established his trademark style of intricate global conspiracies, high-stakes paranoia, and ordinary protagonists forced to battle sinister forces. Over the course of his career, Ludlum penned 27 thriller novels, which have sold an estimated 300 to 500 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages. Beyond his monumental Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum), his hits included The Osterman Weekend and The Matarese Circle. He occasionally wrote under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd. Following his death on March 12, 2001, in Naples, Florida, his massive literary legacy continued. The Official Robert Ludlum Website oversees a multimedia brand that includes blockbuster movie franchises and posthumous thriller series continued by selected ghostwriters.