HAILEY, Arthur 1920-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born April 5, 1920, in Luton, Bedfordshire, England; died of a stroke November 24, 2004, on Lyford Cay, New Providence, Bahamas. Author. Hailey was the bestselling author of suspense novels such as Hotel and Airport. Born in a working-class family, his first desire was to become a journalist, but his lack of higher education prevented him from getting a job. Instead, he found work at a real estate company before he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. While in the military, he began trying his hand at writing, and he managed to publish some short fiction and other works. After the war, Hailey moved to Canada, where he continued work as a realtor briefly before becoming an editor for Bus and Truck Transport magazine in Toronto. From 1953 until 1956, he was a sales promotion and advertising manager for Canadian Trailmobile Ltd. By the mid-1950s Hailey's screenplay Flight to Danger was sold to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. This led to his being hired as a television writer for a variety of networks. Wary of his continued success in entertainment, however, he also founded an advertising agency for financial security. But he need not have bothered with this precaution, since, beginning with his first novel The Final Diagnosis (1959), Hailey would enjoy a successful writing career for the rest of his days. Creating a formula that offered nonstop suspense to his readers, Hailey was often criticized by reviewers for his predictable plots; however, his novels sold millions of copies and were published around the world in over three dozen languages. Among his early successes were Hotel (1965), Airport (1968), and Wheels (1971), all of which were adapted as successful movies. The Money-changers (1975) was turned into a television series, as was The Final Diagnosis, which was adapted as The Young Doctors. Other more recent books by Hailey include Strong Medicine (1984) and his last novel, Detective (1997).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, November 26, 2004, section 3, p. 8.

New York Times, November 26, 2004, p. C10.

Times (London, England), November 27, 2004, p. 80.

Washington Post, November 27, 2004, p. B4.