George Smiley
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George Smiley OBE is a fictional character created by
John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
. Smiley is a career
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...
with "The Circus", the British overseas
intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...
. He is a central character in the novels ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
'', ''
A Murder of Quality ''A Murder of Quality'' is the second novel by John le Carré, published in 1962. It features George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community. Plot summary Long retired s ...
'', ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'', ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'', and ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'', and a supporting character in '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', ''
The Looking Glass War ''The Looking Glass War'' is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the d ...
'', ''
The Secret Pilgrim ''The Secret Pilgrim'' is a 1990 episodic novel by British writer John le Carré, set within the frame narrative of an informal dinner talk given at the spy-training school in Sarratt by George Smiley. As Smiley talks, the first-person narrator, ...
'' and ''
A Legacy of Spies ''A Legacy of Spies'' is a 2017 spy novel by British writer John le Carré. Background ''A Legacy of Spies'' is both a prequel and sequel to John le Carré's '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold''. In that book, MI6 agent Alec Leamas, motiv ...
''. The character has also appeared in a number of film, television, and radio adaptations of le Carré's books. Le Carré created Smiley as an intentional foil to
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
, a character whom he believed depicted an inaccurate and damaging version of espionage life. Short, overweight, balding, and bespectacled, Smiley is polite and self-effacing and frequently allows others to mistreat him, including his serially unfaithful wife; these traits mask his inner cunning, excellent memory, mastery of
tradecraft Tradecraft, within the intelligence community, refers to the techniques, methods and technologies used in modern espionage (spying) and generally, as part of the activity of intelligence assessment. This includes general topics or techniques ( ...
, and occasional ruthlessness. His genius, coupled with other characters' willingness to underestimate him, allows Smiley to achieve his goals and ultimately become one of the most powerful spies in Britain. The character is held in high esteem in Britain, where he has become a pop-culture icon on par with Bond. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' has called him "the sort of spy ritainbelieves it ought to have: a bit shabby, academic, basically loyal, and sceptical of the enthusiasms of his political masters."


Description

In contrast to other spies of the era, Smiley is described as being short, overweight, balding, and middle aged, and he is frequently compared to either a toad or a mole. While cinematic adaptations tend to depict him in dark, three piece suits, the novels describe his clothing as being "really bad",''A Call for the Dead,'' p. 1 with other characters remarking that he "dresses like a bookie"; characters and narration clarify that this refers to his clothes being very loose and baggy, the result of his tailor taking advantage of Smiley's ignorance of men's fashion to charge him more money for the extra fabric. He wears thick, round glasses, (le Carré does not describe the style or nature of the spectacle frames) and tends to clean the lenses on the 'fat' end of his tie while contemplating something of great significance; the gesture is ubiquitous enough that other characters consider it to be something of a trademark. The American scholars Norman Polmar and Thomas Allen described Smiley as the fictional spy most likely to be successful as a real spy, citing le Carré's description of him in ''A Murder of Quality'':
Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colorful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley, has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim, he learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonymity and his safety. His fear makes him servile—he could embrace the shoppers who jostle him in their impatience and force him from the pavement. He could adore the officials, the police, the bus conductors, for the terse indifference of their attitudes.
But this fear, this servility, this dependence had developed in Smiley a perception for the colour of human beings: a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the woods. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger
Polmar and Allen wrote that Smiley's banal qualities together with his intelligence and a talent for intrigue made him ideal as a spy even though he was very far from the popular stereotype of what a spy should be like. Smiley's wife Ann calls him "breathtakingly ordinary", which Polmar and Allen wrote was an advantage for a spy, the very nature of their profession which requires them to be as inconspicuous as possible. In 1980, le Carré defined Smiley's politics as: "I think he stands where I stand; he feels that to pit yourself against any 'ism' is to strike a posture which is itself ideological and therefore offensive in terms of practical decency. In practice almost any political ideology invites you to set aside your humanitarian instincts". The world of espionage presented by le Carré in his novels was a world where lies, betrayal, intrigue and paranoia were the norm for both sides, and much of the appeal of Smiley was that of a moral man trying his best to stay decent in a profoundly amoral world.


Age

Although Smiley ages through his appearances over a half-century, Le Carré has frequently
retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...
elements of his backstory so that he exists on something of a
floating timeline A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in long-running serials in comics and animation as well as other media, to explain why characters Ageless, age little or not at all over a period of t ...
. In his initial appearance in 1961's ''Call for the Dead'', Smiley is somewhere around 55 years of age; changes to his birth year in ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'', set between 1973 and 1974, make him about 58 during the events of that story. He ages into his sixties during the subsequent two novels, ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'' and ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'', the latter of which depicts him in declining physical health as he grows older and heavier. However, although no reference is made to his age in 2017's ''A Legacy of Spies'', set in 2017, he does not appear to be substantially older than he was in his last appearance, although he should be at minimum 102 years old during the events of the book (or 111 if the ''Call for the Dead'' chronology is in effect). This has led Dwight Garner of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' to observe that Smiley is "one of those ashen Englishmen, like the poet
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...
, who seem to be permanently 60 years old."


Early life

Although Smiley has no concrete biography beyond that offered briefly at the beginning of ''Call for the Dead'', le Carré does leave clues in his novels. Smiley was born to middle-class parents in the South of England in the early part of the 20th century (his birth date is retconned from 1906 to 1915 in ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''), and spent at least part of his childhood in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
near the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
. He attended a minor
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
and an antiquated
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
college of no real distinction (in the 1982 BBC television adaptation of ''Smiley's People'', he refers to himself as a fellow of Lincoln College, le Carré's alma mater in real life), studying modern languages with a particular focus on
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy a ...
. One July, while considering post-graduate study in that field, he was recruited into the Circus by his tutor, Jebedee. Smiley underwent training and probation in Central Europe and South America, and spent the period from 1935 until approximately 1938 in Germany recruiting networks under cover as a lecturer. In 1939, with the commencement of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he saw active service not only in Germany, but also in Switzerland and Sweden. Smiley's wartime superiors described him as having "the cunning of
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
and the conscience of a virgin". During this time, he met and recruited Dieter Frey, who would go on to become an East German intelligence operative running the intelligence circle that was the main plot point of Le Carré's first novel, ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
''. In 1943, he was recalled to England to work at Circus headquarters, and in 1945 successfully proposed marriage to Lady Ann Sercomb, a beautiful, aristocratic, and libidinous young lady working as a secretary there. Ann would soon prove herself chronically unfaithful, engaging in numerous affairs and occasionally leaving Smiley entirely, though she always returned to him after the initial excitement of the separation ended. In the same year, Smiley left the Service and returned to Oxford. However, in 1947, with the onset of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, Smiley was asked to return to the Service, and in early 1951 moved into counter-intelligence work, where he would remain for the next decade. It is reported with a reference to the real life Gouzenko affair that "the revelations of a young cipher clerk in Ottawa had created a new demand for men of Smiley's experience". In 1945,
Igor Gouzenko Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (russian: Игорь Сергеевич Гузенко ; January 26, 1919 – June 25, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and a lieutenant of the GRU (Main Intelligence Direc ...
, a Soviet cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, defected and revealed a widespread Soviet spying network in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada that came as a considerable shock to the leaders of western nations. During that period, Smiley first met his Soviet
nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...
, Karla, in a
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
prison. Karla proved impossible to crack, though an increasingly desperate Smiley inadvertently revealed his own weakness – his affection for his wife, Ann – during the interrogation. After he offered Karla the use of his cigarette lighter – a gift from his wife – Karla stole it, keeping it as a symbol of his victory over Smiley. The incident would continue to haunt Smiley for the remainder of his career.


In the novels


The early novels

Smiley first appears in ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
'', le Carré's debut novel. After an introductory chapter documenting Smiley's wartime bravery, the narrative moves to 1960, which finds the formerly heroic Smiley working a menial intelligence job, security-clearing civil servants. After a man he interviewed apparently commits suicide in despair over being a suspected communist, Smiley resigns from the Circus in disgust; the revelation that the man's death may in fact have been a murder spurs Smiley to launch an independent investigation with the help of his protege, Peter Guillam, and police detective Oliver Mendel. Smiley's investigation uncovers that the "suicide" was in fact a murder perpetrated by an
East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
spy ring operating in the UK and being operated by one of his own former agents, whom he accidentally kills in a physical altercation. Although the Circus offers him his job back as a reward, Smiley declines, instead leaving England for a tentative reunion with Ann, who had earlier left him for a racing car driver. Smiley spends much of the story bemoaning the loss of the talented agents who were his mentors prior to the war, and their replacement by such talentless bureaucrats as the current head of service, Maston, who is widely, if secretly, mocked. It is while pursuing a sedate life of scholastic research in German literature at a university in the West Country (probably
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
) that he is called upon to investigate a murder at a fictional
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
in le Carré's next novel, ''
A Murder of Quality ''A Murder of Quality'' is the second novel by John le Carré, published in 1962. It features George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community. Plot summary Long retired s ...
''. Smiley next reappears as a minor but pivotal character in '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'', his third novel. Smiley is revealed to have come back into the service of the Circus as the top aide to
Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...
, Maston's mysterious successor as the Circus' chief. It's revealed that, following the events of ''Call for the Dead,'' Smiley and Guillam succeeded in turning Mundt, the sole survivor of the spy ring, into a British double agent, and sent him back to East Germany. Fearing that Mundt's cover is about to be blown, Smiley and Control manipulate agent Alec Leamas into posing as a defector and sending him to Germany under the assumption that he is going to orchestrate Mundt's death. Along the way, Smiley learns that Leamas blew his own cover to his girlfriend, a nineteen-year-old communist sympathiser named Liz Gold, and arranges to incorporate her into the plot. Although Liz's unwitting role ultimately ensures the mission's success, it also results in her death, prompting a grief-stricken Leamas to give up and let himself be shot dead at the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
as Smiley attempts to extricate him. Smiley plays a small but pivotal role in ''
The Looking Glass War ''The Looking Glass War'' is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the d ...
'', le Carré's fourth novel, occupying the "North European desk" at the Circus. He appears sporadically throughout the book as a liaison to ''The Department,'' a military intelligence agency, which attempts to surreptitiously conduct a dangerous and unnecessary operation without the Circus' knowledge. Smiley's appearance here is notable in that ''War'' is the only book of the series to depict his and Control's personal relationship in great detail. The climax of the novel bears witness to Smiley's ruthlessness, as he is dispatched by the Circus to end the Department's operation and force the abandonment of a Department employee to ameliorate the damage they have caused. Smiley does not appear in either of le Carré's next two works, only one of which dealt with espionage.


Prior to the Karla trilogy

Several years pass between Smiley's appearance in ''
The Looking Glass War ''The Looking Glass War'' is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the d ...
'', set circa 1964, and ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'', which takes place in 1973. During this period, Smiley's position in the Circus comes to be threatened by his contemporary
Bill Haydon Bill Haydon is a fictional character created by John le Carré who features in le Carré's 1974 novel ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''. He is a senior officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service who serves as a Soviet mole. The novel follows ...
, proteges Toby Esterhase and Roy Bland, and ambitious newcomer Percy Alleline. Alleline develops a personal feud with Control due to the latter's class and ethnic prejudice against Percy's Scottish heritage, prompting factions to form within the Circus, with Control, Smiley, and Peter Guillam on one side and Alleline, Haydon, Esterhase, and Bland on the other. When Control is eased out of the Circus in late 1972 after the capture of agent
Jim Prideaux Jim Prideaux is a fictional character created by John le Carré. He appears in ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', with the book's events alternating between his point of view and that of George Smiley, and a minor character in ''A Legacy of Spies''. H ...
in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, Smiley too is forced out. The Circus is taken over by Alleline, with Haydon running "London Station", a branch overseeing all of the service's spy networks. Guillam remains in the Circus as Smiley's sole resource/ally, albeit in a greatly diminished position.


The Karla trilogy

In September or October 1973, the events of ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'' take place, with Smiley successfully managing to expose Haydon as the long-term Soviet agent, or "mole", codenamed "Gerald" and reporting directly to Smiley's nemesis, Karla, head of
Moscow Centre ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy fiction, spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole (espionage), mole in the British Secret Intelligence ...
. Following the revelation, Alleline is drummed out of the Circus for his failure to identify Haydon himself and for permitting such a breach of national security to occur on his watch. Smiley is installed by
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
as the new head of the Circus and tasked with both tying up loose ends left by Haydon's treachery and launching a successful espionage mission to prove the organisation's viability. ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'', set in 1974, finds Smiley having assembled a new team, made up of former colleague Connie Sachs; Doc di Salis, a Jesuit priest who is an expert on communist China; Guillam; and a rehabilitated Esterhase. After learning that Karla has been making exorbitant payments to a heretofore unknown Chinese source, Smiley tasks agent Jerry Westerby with going to Hong Kong disguised as a reporter and identifying the spy. Westerby identifies the man as Nelson Ko, the brother of prominent Triad member Drake Ko. However, he also falls in love with Drake's mistress Lizzie and attempts to betray the Circus as a result. Smiley's bodyguard, Fawn, assassinates Westerby, and then disappears from the Circus, presumably fired by Smiley. Concurrently, the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
takes Nelson into custody, cutting off Circus access to him. The incident prompts Smiley's dismissal as Circus boss, with Guillam contemplating the possibility that Smiley permitted the CIA to succeed to get himself removed from the position. ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'', set in late 1977, finds a retired Smiley launching an investigation into the death of an elderly
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
general, nationalist activist, and former Circus agent. A convoluted trail leads Smiley to discover that Karla has an illegitimate daughter whose existence he has gone to great lengths to hide, and who Karla smuggled through France and into Switzerland to receive desperately needed treatment for a severe case of
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
. Smiley uses his knowledge of Karla's daughter to blackmail him into defecting, and in December 1977 Smiley greets Karla at the Berlin Wall as part of a contingent of Circus agents including Guillam and Esterhase. Karla is taken into British custody, with Esterhase congratulating Smiley on the accomplishment of a lifetime, though Smiley appears to reproach himself for the methods he used to achieve it.


Smiley in retirement

Smiley was absent in the three le Carré novels of the 1980s. He re-surfaced for a penultimate time in 1990 when he appeared in ''
The Secret Pilgrim ''The Secret Pilgrim'' is a 1990 episodic novel by British writer John le Carré, set within the frame narrative of an informal dinner talk given at the spy-training school in Sarratt by George Smiley. As Smiley talks, the first-person narrator, ...
'', enjoying a happy retirement and in better spirits than his protege, the novel's narrator Ned, has ever seen him. Ned reveals that, shortly before the events of the book, he temporarily returned to the Circus to chair the "Fishing Rights Committee", a body set up to explore possible areas of co-operation between British and Russian intelligence services. The end of the book finds Smiley politely requesting that he never be brought out of retirement again, and departing for a vacation in
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
. Smiley appears in le Carré's 2017 novel ''
A Legacy of Spies ''A Legacy of Spies'' is a 2017 spy novel by British writer John le Carré. Background ''A Legacy of Spies'' is both a prequel and sequel to John le Carré's '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold''. In that book, MI6 agent Alec Leamas, motiv ...
'', set after 2010. At the end of the novel, which explores fallout from the events depicted in ''The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'', Smiley meets with the novel's central character, Peter Guillam. The nonagenarian Smiley is now a resident of
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
, Germany, where he lives in a small apartment and conducts research at a library. The novel portrays him as still visited occasionally by his wife, Ann, and in touch with his old associate Jim Prideaux. Speaking with Guillam, he contends that his work had ultimately been for the benefit of Europe.


Models

In 1995, le Carré said that the character of George Smiley was inspired by his one-time
Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
tutor, the former Rev. Vivian Green—a renowned historian and author with an encyclopaedic knowledge. However, other than the thick glasses, loud clothes, and Green's habit of disappearing into a crowd, there were too many dissimilarities between the loquacious Green and the reticent Smiley to make this a clear match, and so other sources for Smiley continued to be named. It has been suggested that le Carré subconsciously took the name of his hero from special forces and intelligence officer Colonel David de Crespigny Smiley. More commonly, it was rumoured that Smiley was modelled on Sir
Maurice Oldfield Sir Maurice Oldfield (16 November 1915 – 11 March 1981) was a British intelligence officer and espionage administrator. He served as the seventh director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), from 1973 to 1978. Early life Oldfield was b ...
, a former head of British Intelligence, who physically resembled him. Le Carré denied the rumours, citing the fact that Oldfield and he were not contemporaries, although he and
Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
did lunch with Oldfield while Guinness was researching the role, and Guinness adopted several of Oldfield's mannerisms of dress and behaviour for his performance.West, Nigel.
At Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Chiefs of Britain's Intelligence Agency, MI6
', Greenhill Books, London, 2006; pp. 18–19.
During the lunch, Oldfield denied to Guinness that he was the inspiration for Smiley, saying he was not like Smiley at all. In 1986, le Carré denied that Oldfield was the inspiration for Smiley, saying: "I never heard of Sir Maurice either by name or in any other way until long after the name and character of George Smiley were in print". Oldfield himself believed that, although Green probably inspired le Carré, the character of Smiley was primarily based on
John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris John Michael Ward Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris (3 November 1908 – 6 August 1988) was a onetime MI5 spy and an English novelist who published 17 thrillers, detective novels, and spy novels. Personal life Bingham was the son of Arthur Bing ...
, who had been le Carré's boss when he originally joined MI5 prior to his career in MI6. In 1999, le Carré confirmed that Bingham was also an inspiration for Smiley, and in 2000 went further, writing in an introduction to a reissue of one of Bingham's novels that "He had been one of two men who had gone into the making of George Smiley. Nobody who knew John and the work he was doing could have missed the description of Smiley in my first novel".John le Carré, Introduction to John Bingham, ''My Name is Michael Sibley'', London: Pan Classic Crime (2000) In an introductory essay dated March 1992, le Carré wrote:
And it is no surprise to me that, when I came to invent my leading character, George Smiley, I should give him something of Vivian Green's unlikely wisdom, wrapped in academic learning, and something of Bingham's devious resourcefulness and simple patriotism also. All fictional characters are amalgams; all spring from much deeper wells than their apparent counterparts in life. All in the end, like the poor suspects in my files, are refitted and remoulded in the writer's imagination, until they are probably closer to his own nature than to anybody else's. But now that Bingham is dead ... it seems only right that I should acknowledge my debt to him: not merely as a component of George Smiley, but as the man who first put the spark to my writing career.


Novels

* ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
'' (1961) * ''
A Murder of Quality ''A Murder of Quality'' is the second novel by John le Carré, published in 1962. It features George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community. Plot summary Long retired s ...
'' (1962) * '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'' (1963) * ''
The Looking Glass War ''The Looking Glass War'' is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the d ...
'' (1965) * ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'' (1974) * ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'' (1977) * ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'' (1979) * ''
The Secret Pilgrim ''The Secret Pilgrim'' is a 1990 episodic novel by British writer John le Carré, set within the frame narrative of an informal dinner talk given at the spy-training school in Sarratt by George Smiley. As Smiley talks, the first-person narrator, ...
'' (1990) * ''
A Legacy of Spies ''A Legacy of Spies'' is a 2017 spy novel by British writer John le Carré. Background ''A Legacy of Spies'' is both a prequel and sequel to John le Carré's '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold''. In that book, MI6 agent Alec Leamas, motiv ...
'' (2017)


In other media


Film

*
Rupert Davies Rupert Davies FRSA (22 May 191622 November 1976) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of ''Maigret'', based on Georges Simenon's novels. Life and career Military serv ...
, of ''
Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...
'' fame, played Smiley as a minor although important character in the 1965 film adaptation '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold''. *
James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
played Smiley (renamed Charles Dobbs) in ''
The Deadly Affair ''The Deadly Affair'' is a 1967 British spy film based on John le Carré's first novel, ''Call for the Dead'' (1961). The film stars James Mason and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn. As it is a Columbia Pictures productio ...
'', a 1966 film adaptation of ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
''. * The character of Smiley was dropped from the 1969 film adaptation of ''The Looking Glass War''. *
Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...
plays Smiley in the 2011 film adaptation of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''. He was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
for his portrayal.


Television

*
Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
portrayed Smiley in two highly successful BBC TV series: ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'' (1979), and ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'' (1982). The middle story, ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'', was not filmed due to the cost of the Indochina setting. The Far Eastern parts of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' had been relocated to Portugal for the same reason. *
Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...
played Smiley in a 1991 version of ''
A Murder of Quality ''A Murder of Quality'' is the second novel by John le Carré, published in 1962. It features George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community. Plot summary Long retired s ...
''.


Radio

* George Cole played Smiley in
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
versions of both ''
Call for the Dead ''Call for the Dead'' is John le Carré's first novel, published in 1961. It introduces George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in a story about East German spies inside Great Britain. It also introduces a fiction ...
'' (1978) and ''
A Murder of Quality ''A Murder of Quality'' is the second novel by John le Carré, published in 1962. It features George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community. Plot summary Long retired s ...
'' (1981). *
Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best known ...
played Smiley in a radio version of ''
The Honourable Schoolboy ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (1977) is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré. George Smiley must reconstruct an intelligence service in order to run a successful offensive espionage operation to save the service from being dismantled by ...
'' (1983). *
Bernard Hepton Francis Bernard Heptonstall (19 October 1925 – 27 July 2018) better known by the stage name Bernard Hepton, was an English theatre director and actor. Best known for his stage work and television roles in teleplays and series, he also appeare ...
, who played the part of Toby Esterhase in the BBC television series, played Smiley in the BBC Radio series of both ''
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...
'' (1988) and ''
Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...
'' (1990), with
Charles Kay Charles Kay (born Charles Piff, 31 August 1930) is an English actor. Early life Kay was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the son of Frances (née Petty) and Charles Beckingham Piff. Originally educated at Warwick School, Kay went on to study me ...
taking the part of Esterhase. *
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
played Smiley in a series of radio plays dramatising all of the then published novels which began on 23 May 2009 on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
with ''Call for the Dead''.


Comics

* In the 1988 comic '' Shattered Visage'', made as a sequel to the spy show ''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'', Smiley is mentioned as having tutored a character in interrogation. * Smiley appears as Harry Lime's assistant in
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...
's 2007 graphic novel '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier''.


Parody

In the popular TV comedy series ''
The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...
'',
Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...
played Smiley along the lines of Alec Guinness' portrayal in a sketch called ''Tinker Tailor Smiley Doyle''. This was a joint send-up of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and '' The Professionals'' TV series, with
Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...
playing a bungling version of
Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV (TV network), ITV crime-action television drama series ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable ...
's
Doyle Doyle is a surname of Irish origin. The name is a back-formation from O'Doyle, which is an Anglicisation of the Irish (), meaning "descendant of ''Dubhghall''". There is another possible etymology: the Anglo-Norman surname ''D'Oyley'' with agglu ...
. Barker's Smiley provides the brains to the brawn of Corbett's Doyle and actually comes out the better. He is shown as something of an obsessive tea drinker. The sketch guest-starred Frank Williams from ''
Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
''. The name of Smiley's enemy Karla can be seen on a secretary's computer screen.
Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and '' Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and ...
and
Paul Whitehouse Paul Julian Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Fast Show'', and has also starred with Harry Enfield in the shows '' Harry & Paul'' and ''Harry ...
performed a sketch in 2012 about there being two George Smileys: a reference to the vastly different portrayals in the filmed versions of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''.


Books and articles

*


References


External links

* An excerpt from chapter one of ''Call for the Dead''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, George Fictional British secret agents John le Carré Novel series Fictional English people Fictional University of Oxford people Characters in British novels of the 20th century Literary characters introduced in 1961 Fictional spymasters