William Diehl
William Francis Diehl, Jr. (1924-2006) was an American author and journalist renowned for his contributions to the thriller genre. Born in Jamaica, New York, he served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he earned several medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. After the war, Diehl pursued a career in journalism, working for publications such as the Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta magazine, and received notable awards for his reporting.
In 1978, he transitioned to fiction writing, releasing his debut novel, *Sharkey's Machine*, which gained significant acclaim and was adapted into a film starring Burt Reynolds. He continued to achieve success with several stand-alone thrillers and a series featuring Chicago lawyer Martin Vail, with *Primal Fear* being a notable title adapted into a movie with Richard Gere. Diehl's work is characterized by engaging narratives and has earned him a place among popular thriller writers. He spent his later years in Woodstock, Georgia, continuing to write until his passing.
On this Page
Subject Terms
William Diehl
Writer
- Born: December 4, 1924
- Birthplace: Jamaica, New York
- Died: November 24, 2006
- Place of death: Atlanta, Georgia
Biography
William Francis Diehl, Jr., was born December 4, 1924, in Jamaica, New York, the son of William Francis and Catherine Marie Diehl. At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and served from 1942 to 1945 as a ball turret gunner over Europe, rising to the rank of sergeant. Shot down during a bombing raid over Munich, Germany, he worked for a time behind enemy lines with Yugoslav partisans. For his service, Diehl received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and two presidential citations.
Following the war, Diehl returned to the United States, enrolled at the University of Missouri, and received a B.A. in 1949. He married Catherine Clifford; they divorced in 1980, but not before producing five children: Cathy, William Francis III, Stanford Arnold, Melissa, and Temple.
After graduating from college, Diehl worked from 1949 to 1955 at the Atlanta Constitution as a crime reporter, and wrote the column Around Atlanta for the newspaper; for his work he received the Sigma Delta Chi distinguished reporting award and the Associated Press spot news award of the year (both 1953). Diehl then freelanced as a writer and photographer for five years, contributing articles and images to such publications as Esquire, Life, Look, and New York.
From 1960 to 1966, he was staff writer and managing editor at Atlanta magazine, meanwhile serving as official photographer for Martin Luther King, Jr., from 1960 to 1963, and acting in local theater. He worked as consulting and senior editor (1966-1967) for New Orleans magazine and Cincinnati magazine (1968-1969); in 1968, he wrote the nonfiction work City in Transition for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. A freelance writer after 1969, Diehl was also a freelance photographer from 1958 to 1975 before finding success in fiction writing.
The day after his fiftieth birthday, Diehl began writing his first novel, which would become the thriller Sharkey’s Machine (1978). The story of a vice cop who takes vengeance against an underworld boss responsible for the murder of his girlfriend, the book was made into a movie starring Burt Reynolds in 1981, and featured one of the most dangerous stunts on film at the time: a sixteen-story fall. Diehl, who received the annual fiction award from the Dixie Council of Writers for the novel, also had a small part in the film, as Percy.
Diehl followed up his best-selling debut novel with several stand-alone thrillers: Chameleon (1981), Hooligans (1984) Thai Horse (1987) and The Hunt. In 1992, he began what a series featuring recurring character Chicago lawyer Martin Vail, with the publication of another best seller, Primal Fear (filmed in 1996 with actorRichard Gere in the starring role); others in the series include Show of Evil (1995) and Reign in Hell (1997). Diehl returned to the nonseries form with his Eureka (2002). He and his second wife live in Woodstock, a small community north of Atlanta, Georgia.