George Smiley (character)
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | George Smiley |
| Occupation: | Secret Service agent |
| Relationships: | Ann Sercomb (wife); Peter Guillam (colleague); Inspector Mendel (colleague); Karla (archenemy) |
| Fandom: | John le Carré, Spy Fiction |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
George Smiley is a fictional British spymaster and recurring character in the espionage novels by British writer John le Carré. He also has various appearances on radio, film and television.
Canon
Smiley was introduced in the 1961 novel Call for the Dead and has since appeared in nine further novels, including Le Carré’s well-known Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Adaptations
The BBC adapted Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy into a television mini-series in 1979, followed by Smiley’s People in 1982, starring Alec Guinness.
In 2011, Tinker Tailor was filmed again for the big screen, starring Gary Oldman.
Other actors playing Smiley were, e.g., James Mason or Denholm Elliott, and Simon Russell Beale or Bernard Hepton on radio.
Fandom
Transformative works on AO3 focus largely on the 2011 film version of the character, in part due to attracting the attention of the (at the time) very sizeable BBC Sherlock fandom (Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock in the series, plays Smiley’s colleague Peter Guillam in the TTSS film). Crossovers with BBC Sherlock and other films/books are likewise popular.
Tumblr and fanfiction.net have also some works centered on Smiley/Reader due to actor Gary Oldman's solid fan-following.
In spite of this, there are respectable amounts of novel-canon fic and other fancreations as well.
Pairings
Popular pairings for Smiley are Peter Guillam/Smiley and Ann Sercomb/Smiley. The Call for the Dead tag on AO3 has some Mendel/Smiley and Dieter Frey/Smiley.
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
- Like birds and bees by ruthvsreality (Guillam/Smiley)
- Sentence fics! by are-youready (Mendel/Smiley)
Fanart
- George Smiley, Archived version by Tawastman, 2012
- TTSS by ムラサキ, 2012 --(alt link)
- Home Time for George, Archived version by Anthony Martin, 2019 or earlier
- A Brief History of George Smiley (12 page comic), Archived version by humansmartbomb, 2023
- love to George Smiley, Archived version by sweetsilencespost, 2025
Other Fanworks
- Imagine... by tascha schwarz (George Smiley (Oldman film) Imagine (genre))
Links and Resources
- https://archiveofourown.org/tags/george%20smiley/works at AO3
- https://fanfiction.net/book/George-Smiley-series/ at FFN
- https://guinnessissmiley.blogspot.com/ Blog dedicated to the TTSS telly series, includes essays and filming locations
- #george smiley on Tumblr