The Eagle Has Landed author Henry Patterson, aka Jack Higgins, dies at 92
Henry Patterson, the bestselling novel who wrote The Eagle Has Landed, died at the age of 92. Widely known the pseudonym Jack Higgins, the author breathed his last at his home in Jersey surrounded family members, Patterson’s publisher HarperCollins said in a tweet.
🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️
It is with great sadness that HarperCollins shares the news that Henry Patterson, most commonly known to the general public the pseudonym Jack Higgins, has died at the age of ninety-two, at home in Jersey and surrounded his family. Our thoughts are with them at this time. pic.twitter.com/UBCyqxz3lF
— HarperCollinsUK (@HarperCollinsUK) April 9, 2022
Patterson was born on July 27, 1929, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, to an English father and a Northern Irish mother.
In a career that spanned over six decades, Patterson penned 85 novels, predominantly thrillers and in the espionage genre, and has sold more than 150 million copies. His works have also been translated into 55 languages.
Patterson gained international fame writing The Eagle Has Landed, set during the second world war, first published in 1975.
It sold more than 50 million copies and was adapted into a British film of the same name (1976), directed John Sturges. It starred Sir Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Jenny Agutter, and Robert Duvall.
According to BBC, Patterson sold more than 250 million books over his career, with his other works including Comes the Dark Stranger (1962), Hell is Too Crowded (1962) and To Catch a King (1979).
His final book, The Midnight Bell, was published in 2017 and was a Sunday Times bestseller.
His other notable works include A Prayer for the Dying (1973), The Eagle Has Flown (1990), a sequel to The Eagle Has Landed, Thunder Point (1993), Angel of Death (1995), Flight of Eagles (1998), and Day of Reckoning (2000).
Patterson is survived his wife Denise and four children from his first marriage.
