Arthur Hailey

Career overview

Arthur Hailey was a British-Canadian author born on April 5, 1920, in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. Following his service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he immigrated to Canada and began his professional writing career. He gained significant recognition in 1956 after the success of his original television drama Flight Into Danger, which prompted his decision to become a full-time author. Over the course of his career, he was credited with 24 works. He was known for his meticulous attention to detail and for writing major works based on American material that were first published in the United States.

Hailey achieved international success as a novelist, with several of his suspense novels becoming best-sellers. Notable titles include Hotel Saint-Gregory, published in 1965, and Airport, published in 1968. His literary work also served as source material for film and television adaptations, such as the 2005 production Arthur Hailey's Detective. This story follows Detective Sergeant Malcolm Ainslie, a former Catholic priest turned police investigator, as he hears the final confession of a convicted serial killer facing the death penalty. Arthur Hailey died on November 24, 2004, at the age of 84 in Nassau, Bahamas.