- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAlistair Stuart MacLean
- Nickname
- Ian Stuart
- Alistair MacLean was born on April 28, 1922 in Daviot, Scotland, UK. He was a writer, known for The Guns of Navarone (1961), Where Eagles Dare (1968) and Puppet on a Chain (1971). He was married to Mary Marcelle Georgius and Gisela Heinrichsen. He died on February 2, 1987 in Munich, Germany.
- SpousesMary Marcelle Georgius(1972 - 1977) (divorced)Gisela Heinrichsen(1953 - 1972) (divorced, 3 children)
- Buried a few yards from Richard Burton in Celigny, Switzerland.
- Employed the pseudonym Ian Stuart several times in order to prove that his books were best-sellers due to their content and not solely because his name appeared on the cover.
- He wrote many best-selling action novels that were turned into often successful movies. When asked to comment on why his stories were so popular he remarked that he always wrote stories that were visual. Since they were easy to imagine when the books were read, they were easy to film.
- After MacLean's death, author Alistair MacNeill managed to continue writing suspense novels in the MacLean tradition by keeping MacLean's name on the cover.
- In the early 1980s, he was commissioned by an American film studio to write a series of story outlines to be subsequently produced as movies. MacLean compiled several stories about a fictitious United Nations crime-fighting organization, several of which were adapted as books by other authors. These include 'Death Train (1993) (TV)' and 'Night Watch (1995) (TV)' (both written by Alistair MacNeill) which were filmed starring Pierce Brosnan.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
