Michael Crichton is an American writer, author of many books in the genre of science fiction and thriller, a well-known producer and screenwriter. His books are very popular all over the world, many of them have been filmed. Crichton is called the father of the technotriller for his great contribution to the development of this genre.
Childhood
Michael Crichton was born on October 23, 1942 in Chicago. His childhood took place in New York, on the outskirts of the city, where he and his family moved at the age of six. Michael's father worked in a magazine, his mother housework. In addition to Michael, there were three more children: two sisters and a younger brother.
He studied at a regular high school. Michael was tall, which gave him the opportunity to engage in a basketball team. In sport, he proved to be quite successful.
Search for a life path
After graduation, Michael Crichton chose the profession of philologist and entered Harvard University. Surprisingly, the professors who studied with the future writer considered his style not perfect enough and gave weak marks.
Once a rather amusing incident happened: Crichton slipped one of the professors instead of his essay on George Orwell. The professor did not appreciate this creation and put him three with a plus. After this incident, Michael finally became disillusioned with Harvard teaching methods.
After an unsuccessful graduation, Michael Crichton decided to try himself in another direction. In 1964, he entered Cambridge to study anthropology. Here he proved himself fully and received a one-year trip to Europe and North Africa as a reward for excellent study.
After returning home, Michael did not stop searching for his calling and enrolled at Harvard Medical School. Crichton's success in medicine was great: he defended his thesis and worked for some time at the Institute of Biological Research.
But he did not continue further work in this area, because, finally, he chose the business of his life - Crichton became a professional writer. He began to write while still at medical school. The author used all the knowledge gained during his studies to write his best-selling books. Michael Crichton’s books and films often feature both medical and anthropological topics. For example, the television series Ambulance, which was filmed according to the Crichton script, received 14 Emmy awards.
Literature
Michael Crichton was familiar with literature from an early age. At the age of fourteen, he published his travel notes in The New York Times. At an older age, the young writer became interested in the thriller genre and wrote his first books under various pseudonyms. Due to the high growth, more than two meters, he took the pseudonyms appropriate, for example John Lange (in translation - "long").
Under this name, the writer worked from 1966 to 1972 and created several books. One of them was the novel "If necessary," which was duly appreciated and received the Edgar Award as the best detective of the year.
In 1968, Creighton’s first science-fiction novel, The Perfect Tool, was written. In 1969, the first book was published under the author’s own name, which quickly became a bestseller and was made into a film, “The Andromeda Strain.”
Over the next decades, Crichton tries himself as a screenwriter and director, which he does well. The fantastic film "World of the Wild West" was well received by the audience.
Jurassic Park
In 1993, Michael became world famous, many fans appeared who, being interested in the writer's work, were buying up his earlier creations. The reason for interest was the release of a blockbuster, shot on the basis of the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park. The book was written by the author in 1990.
In the novel of the science fiction genre, the main character is a certain John Hammond, who is engaged in the study of dinosaur DNA. The scientist bought a small island where he created an unusual park. In this place it contains dinosaurs for which conditions are created identical to those of the Jurassic period. John is preparing for the opening of the park and hopes that his work will be highly appreciated. For this, the scientist invited experts before the opening of the reserve.
But the unexpected happens, and the situation gets out of control: chaos begins, people remain helpless in front of dinosaurs.
In 1993, the writer rightfully receives the title of America's most popular writer. The novel by Michael Crichton "Jurassic Park" becomes a bestseller and maintains this position throughout the year. The circulation of the work is about seven million copies, and the film of the same name marked the beginning of a real dinosauromania.
"Lost World"
After the worldwide success that hit Creighton due to the popularity of Jurassic Park, the author decides to return to the heroes of the novel. In 1993, Michael Crichton's book, The Lost World, was published, which is a continuation of the story that everyone loved. And in 1997, Steven Spielberg shot the blockbuster Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, which won an Oscar for the best video effects.
Here several genres intertwine at the same time: action, adventure genre, thriller and science fiction.
The action takes place four years after the events described earlier. Dinosaurs from the first part of the novel not only did not become extinct, but also managed to multiply, moving to a neighboring island and adapting to weather conditions. And then a man appears who makes plans to transport dinosaurs to the mainland for income.
John Hammond had lost control of his company by this time. Having learned about the events, he goes to the island to correct the situation. Both groups, faced with danger, are forced to join forces in the fight against a formidable enemy.
The Eaters of the Dead
Another of the writer's best novels, on the basis of which the film "The 13th Warrior" was shot with Antonio Banderos in the title role, is "Eaters of the Dead." To date, there are few people who would not watch this film adaptation.
Once, Crichton argued with one of his friends about European mythology. The subject of controversy was the legend of Beowulf. Friends did not agree on the reality of its foundation.
Michael familiarized himself with the manuscripts of Ibn Fadlan, who is considered an eyewitness to the events. This man really lived in Baghdad in the tenth century. In 922, he went to the Volga Bulgaria as the secretary of the embassy, and along the way he kept travel notes, which served as a source for Krayton to write the novel. The manuscript is quite reliable and is often used by professors for educational material.
Crichton compared the myth with real historical events. Additions taken from bibliographic sources were made to the manuscript. To revive the plot, the author applied artistic techniques. So in 1976, Michael Crichton’s book, The Eaters of the Dead, appeared in the genre of historical, adventure and mystical novel. The author was so inspired by the creation of the work that in the end he could no longer distinguish where the manuscript was and where his personal revisions were.
Scientists rather approvingly approached this creation, but literary critics smashed it to smithereens, accusing the author of defiling Beowulf’s personality. But most importantly, readers appreciated the work of the master.
The personal life of the writer
Michael was married three times: to Joan Redam, Katie St. Jones and Canadian actress Anne-Marie Martin, who in 1988 gave birth to his daughter Taylor.
After marrying Crichton in 1989, Anne-Marie left the movie and devoted herself to the family. Only a few years later she returned to the film industry, but already as a screenwriter.
Hobbies
In addition to writing books and producing films, Crichton was involved in software and in the late nineties founded his own company for the production of computer games Timeline Studios. All games were based on his novels.
The writer was also involved in collecting objects of modern art.
In 1988, Michael Crichton wrote a biography novel, Travels, which described in detail his many trips around the world.
He was fond of writing articles on the topic of science, which were published in many journals.
And interest in mysticism was manifested not only in the works of Michael. Crichton took part in spiritualistic sessions, tried in practice to experiment with the theory of exorcism, and even took part in rites of exorcism.
The memory of the writer
Michael Crichton died of cancer on November 4, 2008 in Los Angeles, but the books of the talented writer are a success today.
Michael's activities brought the writer in 1998 the status of the fourth businessman in the list of entertainers in terms of earnings. Today, the world circulation of his works is more than one hundred million copies.
Some new dinosaur species discovered by paleontologists are named after Michael Crichton.