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Thursday 8 September 2011

Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer was born in the City of London Maternity Hospital on April 15, 1940. His father, William (died 1956), was 64-years-old at the time.

Jeffrey was two weeks old when his family moved to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he spent most of his early life.

Jeffrey's mother Lola dominated his early life. She was a Councillor and wrote a column in the local newspaper, in which she'd describe Jeffrey's adventures. She referred to him as Tuppence in them.



Jeffrey Archer married Mary in July 1966, having met him at Oxford University, where Jeffrey had been studying for a Diploma in Education. Their first date was to see the James Bond movie Dr No.

At Oxford University Archer successfully competed as a sprinter and hurdler and became president of the Oxford University Athletic Club. He gained a blue in athletics and went on to run for England.

Archer was a Member of Parliament between 1969–1974) but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt.

Jeffrey Archer wrote his first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less in 1976. It was said to have been inspired by Archer's real-life experience of near-bankruptcy. His 1979 novel Kane and Abel proved to be his best-selling work, reaching#1 on The New York Times bestsellers list.

His other works include Sons of Fortune (2002) and A Prisoner of Birth (2008).

The first play Jeffrey Archer wrote, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, had a long West End run in the 1980s.

In 2000 he acted in the West End for the first time, in his play The Accused.

According to Jeffrey Archer his wife Mary is the last person to read his novels before they are published, because she's very good on commas.

Archer writes all his stories with a felt tip pen.

A former MP and Conservative Party chairman, Archer was made a life peer by John Major's government in 1992.

Jeffrey Archer in 2012 By Bjørn Erik Pedersen - Wikipedia

On July 24, 1987, Jeffrey Archer won £500,000 libel damages from the Daily Star newspaper for a story that claimed he had slept with a prostitute. The story was based on the testimony of Monica Coghlan, a woman who claimed to have had an affair with Archer in the 1960s. Archer denied the allegations, and his lawyers successfully argued that the Daily Star had not taken sufficient steps to verify the story before publishing it.

The libel case was a major victory for Archer, who was at the time a rising star in the Conservative Party. The damages he was awarded were the largest ever paid in a British libel case. The case also damaged the reputation of the Daily Star, which was forced to pay Archer's legal fees as well.

In 2001 Jeffrey Archer began a four year jail sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice, relating back to his successful 1987 libel action against the Daily Star tabloid newspaper.

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