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Michael Crichton Biography

Writer / Filmmaker

A specialist in science-related thrillers, Michael Crichton wrote some of the most popular mass-market novels of the 1980s and 1990s. He attended Harvard and trained as a doctor; before graduating from medical school he had already written the best-selling thriller The Andromeda Strain (1969). Later he wrote hit novels like The Terminal Man (1972) and Rising Sun (1992). He also directed several movies, including the film of his own 1975 novel The Great Train Robbery (1979, with Sean Connery). Crichton's popularity boomed in the 1990s, when his book Jurassic Park was made into a hit movie by director Steven Spielberg. Crichton also created the Emmy-winning TV series E.R. His 2004 novel State of Fear questioned the scientific validity of global warming, giving Crichton a reputation as a climate change skeptic; in 2005 he testified before a Senate committee and had a private visit with President George W. Bush to discuss the issue.

Extra credit: Crichton was 6'7" tall, according to a 1981 interview with The Christian Science Monitor... He died on the same day in 2008 that Barack Obama was elected president.

Crichton and medical thriller author Robin Cook star in our loop on Doctors Who Write.

Blog posts mentioning Michael Crichton:

Four Good Links

Official Site of Michael Crichton

Crichton's own slick site, with an unusually thoughtful FAQ

'Jurassic Park' Author, 'ER' Creator Dies

His 2008 obituary from CNN

Random House: Michael Crichton

His publisher's site for his many books

Michael Crichton and Global Warming

2005 analysis of Crichton's views from the Brookings Institution

Vital Stats

Birth

23 October 1942

Birthplace

Chicago, Illinois

Death

4 November 2008
(cancer, age 66)

Best Known As

The author of Jurassic Park