Robert Ludlum, Author Biographies

At an early age, Robert Ludlum started working on the Broadway stage as both an actor and, later on, a producer. He jokes that since the good actors were drafted in the armed forces, he had no trouble finding acting jobs. He also served in the U.S. Marines as a soldier, from 1945 through 1947.

Robert was a television star in the 1950s, starring in as many as 200 dramas. He was a producer at the North Jersey Playhouse in 1957 and opened the Playhouse-on-the-Mall in Paramus in 1960. It is estimated that he wrote 300 stage productions.

Robert Ludlum was born on May 25,1927, in New York City, New York, but spent most of his childhood in New Jersey. His father, George Hartford Ludlum, a business man, died when Robert was only seven years old.

Robert was educated both privately and at the Cheshire Academy, Connecticut. He participated in high school plays even though he really wanted to be a football quarterback.

Robert earned his B.A. in 1951, from Wesleyan University in Middleton Connecticut. Robert and actress, Mary Ryducha, married in 1951, and had three children. In the 1970s, they bought a farmhouse in Long Island and a second home in Florida.

Although Robert Ludlum was a ‘closet writer’ for many years, it wasn’t until he was 40 years old that, getting bored with show business, he started writing his first novel. To support his family during this time, he did voice overs.

Roberts first novel, ‘The Scarlatti Inheritance,’ was published in 1971, after ten rejections, and became an immediate best seller. He says everyone has a story to tell, so this novel was easy for him to write. The second novel was more difficult.

Robert writes violent, fast paced books. It is said of his writing, “He captures the imagination of his readers from the first pages and keeps them absorbed in the story.”

He died on March 12, 2001. A ghost writer has continued his work. This note appeared with ‘The Tristan Betrayal,’ “Since his death, the Estate of Robert Ludlum has worked with a carefully selected author and editor to prepare and edit this work for publication.”

Books by Robert Ludlum:

Series:

Road To:

The Road to Gandolfo (1975) (as Michael Shepherd)

The Road to Omaha (1992)

Matarese Dynasty:

(1979)

The Matarese Countdown (1997)

Bourne:

The Bourne Identity (Bourne Trilogy, Book 1) (1980)

The Bourne Supremacy (1986)

The Bourne Ultimatum (1990)

The Bourne Legacy (2004) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

The Bourne Betrayal (2007) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

The Bourne Sanction (2008) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

Robert Ludlum's (TM) The Bourne Deception (2009) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

The Bourne Objective (2010) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

The Bourne Reality (2011) ( w/Eric Van Lustbader)

The Bourne Trilogy (omnibus) (2003)

The Second Bourne Trilogy (omnibus) (2009) (w/Eric Van Lustbader)

Covert-One

The Hades Factor (2000) (w/Gayle Lynds)

The Cassandra Compact (2001) (w/Phillip Shelby)

The Paris Option (2002) (w/Gayle Lynds)

Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code: A Covert-One Novel (2003) (w/Gayle Lynds)

The Lazarus Vendetta (2004) (w/Patrick Larkin)

The Moscow Vector (2005) (w/Keith Farrell, Patrick Larkin)

The Arctic Event (2007) (w/James H. Cobb)

The Infinity Affair (2009) (w/James H. Cobbs)

Stand Alone Novels:

The Scarlatti Inheritance (1970)

The Osterman Weekend (1972)

The Matlock Paper (1973)

Trevayne (1973) (as Jonathan Ryder)

The Cry of the Halidon (1974) (as Jonathan Ryder)

The Rhinemann Exchange (1974) (as Jonathan Ryder)

The Gemini Contenders (1976)

The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)

The Holcroft Covenant (1978)

The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)

The Aquitaine Progression (1984)

The Icarus Agenda (1988)

The Scorpio Illusion (1993)

The Apocalypse Watch (1995)

The Prometheus Deception (2000)

The Sigma Protocol (2001)

The Janson Directive (2002)

The Tristan Betrayal (2003)

The Amber Warning (2005)

(2006)