Celebrity Online NewsOnline Celebrity Gossip and News

Thomas Lee Clancy Jr. (born April 12, 1947) is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War. His name is also a brand for similar books written by ghost writers and a series of non-fiction books on military subjects and merged biographies of key leaders. He is also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team. He officially is the Orioles' Vice Chairman of Community Activities and Public Affairs.

Biography

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. was born in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, North America. He attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland, graduating with the class of 1965. He went on to study English Literature at Loyola College in Baltimore, graduating with the class of 1969.^[1] Though he wanted to serve in the United States military, he was rejected after failing a required eye exam in the ROTC. Before making his literary debut, he spent some time running an independent insurance agency.

In 1993, Tom Clancy joined a group of investors that included Peter Angelos and bought the Baltimore Orioles from Eli Jacobs. In 1998, he attempted to purchase the Minnesota Vikings and had a purchase agreement in place, but the deal fell through.

On 26 June 1999, Clancy, at age 53, married freelance journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, who at 32 years of age was 21 years his junior.^[2] Llewellyn is the first cousin of Colin Powell, who originally introduced the couple to each other.^[3]

In 2008, Clancy's name was purchased by Ubisoft for an undisclosed sum for the use in conjunction with video games and related products such as movies and books.^[4]

Political views

Clancy has generally been regarded as a political conservative, and has donated over US$256,000 to Republican Party political candidates.^[5]

After 9/11, Clancy was an early and, to many, surprising defender of Islam. He was interviewed on NBC later that day. A week after the attack, on The O'Reilly Factor, Clancy stated that left-wing politicians in the United States were partly responsible for September 11 due to their "gutting" of the CIA.^[3] Clancy has also associated himself with General Anthony Zinni, a critic of the Iraq War and the George W. Bush administration, and has been critical of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.^[6] He was categorized as a northern paleoconservative.^[7]

Some of his books bear dedications to Republican political figures, most notably Ronald Reagan. In his novels countries portrayed as hostile to the USA include the former Soviet Union, China, India, Iran, Japan and Russia while Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom are shown as close allies of the USA.

Bibliography

The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have been turned into commercially successful films with actors Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and Harrison Ford as Clancy's most famous fictional character Jack Ryan, while his second most famous character John Clark has been played by actors Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber. The first NetForce novel was adapted as a television movie, starring Scott Bakula and Joanna Going. The first Op-Center novel was released to coincide with a 1995 NBC television mini-series of the same name (Tom Clancy's Op-Center) starring Harry Hamlin and a cast of stars. Though the mini-series didn't continue the book series did, but it had little in common with the first mini-series other than the title and the names of the main characters.

The website IMDB reports that Tom Clancy's novel Without Remorse is to be made into a movie and is expected to be released in 2008. Filming is to commence in 2008. No other details were available as of May 29, 2008.

With the release of The Teeth of the Tiger, Clancy introduced Jack Ryan's son and two nephews as main characters. Presumably, he has retired Jack Ryan as a central character.

Clancy has written several nonfiction books about various branches of the U.S. armed forces (see non-fiction listing, below). Clancy has also branded several lines of books with his name that are written by other authors, following premises or storylines generally in keeping with Clancy's works:

• Tom Clancy's Op-Center
• Tom Clancy's Power Plays
• Tom Clancy's Net Force
• Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Tom Clancy's EndWar

These are sometimes referred to by fans as "apostrophe" books; Clancy did not initially acknowledge that these series were being authored by others, only thanking the actual authors in the headnotes for their "invaluable contribution to the manuscript".

In 1997, Clancy signed a book deal with Penguin Putnam Inc. (both part of Pearson Education), that paid him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books. He then signed a second agreement for another US$25 million for a four-year book/multimedia deal. Clancy followed this up with an agreement with Berkley Books for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the ABC television miniseries Tom Clancy's Net Force aired in the fall/winter of 1998. The OP-Center universe has laid the ground for the series of books written by Jeff Rovin, which was in an agreement worth US $22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

All but two of Clancy's novels feature Jack Ryan or John Clark.

By publication date

The Hunt for Red October (1984)

Clancy's first novel. Jack Ryan assists in the defection of a respected Soviet naval captain, along with the most advanced ballistic missile submarine of the Soviet fleet. The movie (1990) stars Alec Baldwin as Ryan and Sean Connery as Captain Ramius.

Red Storm Rising (1986)

War between NATO and USSR. The basis of the combat game of the same name, this is not a member of the Ryan genre (although the protagonist of the story has many similarities with Jack Ryan). He co-wrote it with Larry Bond.

Patriot Games (1987)

The third book that Clancy wrote, Patriot Games is second in chronological order. After Jack Ryan foils an attack in London on the Prince and Princess of Wales by the "Ulster Liberation Army", the ULA stage a daring raid on Ryan's home while he is hosting the Prince and Princess for dinner. The movie stars Harrison Ford as Ryan.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)

First appearance of John Clark and Sergey Golovko. Secret anti-satellite lasers (SDI), high-stakes diplomacy, spies and computer geeks (Major Gregory is introduced here and shown later as updating SAM software in The Bear and the Dragon).

Clear and Present Danger (1989)

Drug war in Colombia involving American military forces in a covert war against the Medellín Cartel. Ryan and Clark finally meet; first appearance of Domingo "Ding" Chavez who is one of the scouts in the special forces teams and Clark's protege in later novels. The movie (1994) stars Harrison Ford as Ryan, Willem Dafoe as Clark and Raymond Cruz as Chavez.

The Sum of All Fears (1991)

Israel loses a nuclear weapon, which Islamic terrorists use to foment war between U.S. and Soviets, which is averted by Ryan in a cliffhanger. The 2002 movie stars Ben Affleck as Ryan, Liev Schreiber as Clark, and changes the identity and motivation of the terrorists to neo-Nazis.

Without Remorse (1993)

Chronologically the first book featuring John Kelly/John Clark, detailing Clark's experiences during the Vietnam War before joining the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Debt of Honor (1994)

Ryan as National Security Advisor, and John Clark and Domingo Chavez as agents with Russian cover, help win a military and economic war with a nuclear-armed Japan. A subplot of the book involves the resignation of the Vice President in a sexually based scandal; Ryan is nominated as his replacement, then becomes President after the President is killed shortly after Ryan's appointment is approved by Congress.

Executive Orders (1996)

Immediate sequel to Debt of Honor. President Ryan survives press hazing, assassination attempts and biological warfare. Clark and Chavez trace the virus to a Middle Eastern madman, and the U.S. military goes to work.

SSN: Strategies for Submarine Warfare (1996)

Follows the missions of USS Cheyenne in a future war with China precipitated by their invasion of the disputed Spratly Islands. Also not a Ryanverse book, SSN is actually a loosely connected collection of "scenario" chapters in support of the eponymous computer game.

Rainbow Six (1998)

Released to coincide with the computer game of the same name. John Clark and Ding, who is now John's son-in-law, lead an elite multi-national anti-terrorist unit that combats a worldwide genocide attempt by eco-terrorists. (Jack Ryan is the U.S. President and only mentioned or referred to as either 'The President' or 'Jack'.)

The Bear and the Dragon (2000)

War between Russia and China. Ryan recognizes the independence of Taiwan and the United States Armed Forces help Russia defeat the Chinese invasion of Siberia.

Red Rabbit (2002)

Back when he was a humble CIA analyst, Ryan aids in the defection of a Soviet officer who knows of a plan to assassinate the Pope.

The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)

Features the rise of Jack Ryan's son, Jack Ryan Jr., as an intelligence analyst, and then a field consultant, for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence agency with the freedom to discreetly assassinate individuals "who threaten national security", following the end of the Jack Ryan Sr. presidential administration. This is the latest book of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy, introducing his son and his two nephews as heirs to his spook-legacy.

By series plot chronology

Jack Ryan/John Clark universe

• Without Remorse (1993) *
• Patriot Games (1987) **
• Red Rabbit (2002) **
• The Hunt for Red October (1984) **
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
• Clear and Present Danger (1989)
• The Sum of All Fears (1991)
• Debt of Honor (1994)
• Executive Orders (1996)
• Rainbow Six (1998)
• The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
• The Teeth of the Tiger (2003) ***

* This book features John Clark after he left military service as a Navy Seal and details his coming to work for the CIA. Jack Ryan is only briefly included as he mentions his decision to enter the Marine Corps while he is in college.

** This book features Jack Ryan only. John Clark is only referred to in Red Rabbit as a training officer at the CIA's field school.

*** This book features Ryan's son (Jack Ryan Jr.).

Listed in chronological order according to plot.

The novels The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have all been made into motion pictures. A movie version of Without Remorse is tentatively scheduled for a 2008 release, and a movie version of Rainbow Six is scheduled for a 2010 release.

Novels not in the series

• Red Storm Rising (1986)
• SSN (1996)

Op-Center universe

• Op-Center (1995) by Jeff Rovin
• Mirror Image (1996) by Jeff Rovin
• Games of State (1996) by Jeff Rovin
• Acts of War (1997) by Jeff Rovin
• Balance of Power (1998) by Jeff Rovin
• State of Siege (1999) by Jeff Rovin
• Divide and Conquer (2000) by Jeff Rovin
• Line of Control (2001) by Jeff Rovin
• Mission of Honor (2002) by Jeff Rovin
• Sea of Fire (2003) by Jeff Rovin
• Call to Treason (2004) by Jeff Rovin
• War of Eagles (2005) by Jeff Rovin

NetForce universe

• Net Force (1998) by Steve Perry
• Hidden Agendas (1999) by Steve Perry
• Night Moves (1999) by Steve Perry
• Breaking Point (1999) by Steve Perry
• Point of Impact (2001) by Steve Perry
• CyberNation (2001) by Steve Perry
• State of War (2003) by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff
• Changing of the Guard (2003) by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff
• Springboard (2004) by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff
• The Archimedes Effect (2006) by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff

NetForce Explorers Universe

• Virtual Vandals
• The Deadliest Game
• One is the Loneliest Number
• The Ultimate Escape
• End Game
• Cyberspy
• The Great Race
• Shadow of Honor
• Private Lives
• Safe House
• Game Prey
• Duel Identity
• Deathworld
• High Wire
• Cold Case
• Runaway(novel)
• Cloak and Dagger
• Death Match (in the UK released in 2002 as "Own Goal")

Power Plays universe

• Politika (novel, 1997) by Jerome Preisler
• Politika (computer game, 1997) by Red Storm Entertainment
• ruthless.com (novel, 1998) by Jerome Preisler
• ruthless.com (computer game, 1998) by Red Storm Entertainment
• Shadow Watch (novel, 1999) by Jerome Preisler
• Shadow Watch (computer game, 1999) by Red Storm Entertainment
• Bio-Strike (novel, 2000) by Jerome Preisler
• Cold War (novel, 2001) by Jerome Preisler
• Cutting Edge (novel, 2002) by Jerome Preisler
• Zero Hour (novel, 2003) by Jerome Preisler
• Wild Card (novel, 2004) by Jerome Preisler

Splinter Cell universe

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006) by unknown author as David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007) by unknown author as David Michaels

EndWar universe

• Tom Clancy's EndWar (2008) by Raymond Benson as David Michaels

Non-fiction

Guided Tour

• Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship (1993)
• Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment (1994)
• Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing (1995)
• Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (1996)
• Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force (1997)
• Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier (1999)
• Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces (2001)

Study in Command

• Into the Storm - On the Ground in Iraq (with Fred Franks) (1997)
• Every Man a Tiger - the Gulf War Air Campaign (with Chuck Horner) (1999)
• Shadow Warriors - Inside the Special Forces (with Carl Stiner) (2002)
• Battle Ready (with Anthony Zinni) (2004)

Other

• The Tom Clancy Companion - Edited by Martin E. Greenberg - Writings by Clancy along with a concordance of all his fiction novels, detailing characters and military units or equipment.

Video games

In 1996, Clancy co-founded the computer game developer Red Storm Entertainment and ever since he has had his name on several of Red Storm's most successful games. Red Storm was later bought by publisher Ubisoft Entertainment, which continues to use the Clancy name. This game series includes

• Red Storm Rising: A submarine sim game loosely based on the novel of the same name. Produced in 1990 by MicroProse for IBM PC Compatible, C64, and Amiga.
• SSN: The novel of the same name is based on it.
• Shadow Watch: Turn based strategy based on the Power Play novel [1].
• Rainbow Six Series: Squad-based first-person shooters, based on the novel of the same name, typically taking place in closed urban environments.
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch (1999)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (1999)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear: Urban Operations (2000)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Operations Essentials (2000)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear: Black Thorn (2001)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea (2001)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lone Wolf (2002)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Broken Wing (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Urban Crisis (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow (2004)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword (2004)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Iron Wrath (2005)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown (2005)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour (2006)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (2006)
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (2008)
• Ghost Recon Series: Squad-based first-person shooters/third-person shooters. As opposed to the Rainbow Six games, Ghost Recon usually takes place in larger, outdoor environments.
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2001)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder (2003)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm (2004)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (2004)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike (2005)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (2006)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (2007)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 3 (2009)
• Splinter Cell Series: Third person stealth games, lately spawned a line of books written by a series of different authors, all writing under the pseudonym David Michaels.
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials (2006)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2009)
• End War Series : Upcoming franchise set in a speculative World War 3, taking place in 2020.
  • Tom Clancy's EndWar (2008)
• Air Combat Series : Upcoming air combat.
  • Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (2009)

There were also video games based on the novel The Hunt for Red October and the film adaptation thereof. The two games were published by Grandslam Entertainment. The version based on the film was available on the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, Amstrad, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES and Game Boy systems, whereas the version based on the book was available on the Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad 1512 pc, Amstrad CPC, Apple Macintosh, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 systems. In 2002 and 2003 a video game based on the film version of The Sum of All Fears was released for the PC and Nintendo Gamecube system. All though very similar to the Rainbow Six games, The Sum Of All Fears was poorly received.

Many of the games bearing the Clancy name have been very successful, spawning several sequels and expansions. It is unknown how much input Clancy actually has into the games.

World news media is a fictional news network that had been feature in many Tom Clancy's video games.

Board games

• The Hunt for Red October (1988)

  Naval wargame published by TSR, Inc., based on the novel of the same name. It covered modern naval warfare between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

• Red Storm Rising (1989)

  Ground warfare wargame published by TSR, Inc., based on the novel of the same name. It covered an attack on NATO forces in western Europe by the Warsaw Pact. It included rules for integration with The Hunt for Red October game of the year before. The publisher reused the system for Europe Aflame (1989), a strategic World War II game, and A Line in the Sand, a strategic game about the First Gulf War.

• Tom Clancy's Politika [2]

Achievements and awards

• Clancy is one of only two authors to have sold two million copies on a first printing in the 1990s. (John Grisham is the other author.) Clancy's 1989 novel Clear and Present Danger sold 1,625,544 hardcover copies, making it the #1 bestselling novel of the 1980s.^[8]

• Clancy received an honorary doctorate in humane letters and delivered the commencement address at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1992, and has since worked a reference to the school into many of his main works.^[9]

• Clancy is an honorary Yeoman Warder of The Tower of London holding the title "Supernumerary Yeoman".^[10] On the television show Ace of Cakes his wife commissioned, for his 60th birthday, a special cake in the shape of the Tower of London in acknowledgment of his status. On the episode, Tom Clancy referred to the Beefeaters as, "Just a terrific bunch of guys".

References

See also

• List of bestselling novels in the United States
• List of other novelists
• Dale Brown
• Stephen Coonts
• John le Carré
• Ian Fleming
• James Clancy Phelan
• Frederick Forsyth
• Charles Cumming

External links

Find more about Tom Clancy on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Dictionary definitions
	Textbooks
	Quotations
	Source texts
	Images and media
	News stories
	Learning resources

• Transcript of interview with Deborah Norville on the War in Iraq - April 2004
• Detailed Tom Clancy Book Reviews
• Tom Clancy FAQ
• Internet Book Database of Fiction bibliography
• 1984, 1986 interviews of Tom Clancy by Don Swaim at Wired for Books
• Tom Clancy at the Internet Movie Database
• The Page of Tom Clancy's Primary Publisher

Literary reviews and criticism

• "Something for the Boys" by Christopher Hitchens, The New York Review of Books, November 14, 1996. A review of Clancy's Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.