Sixty-one years ago today, on August 12, 1964 (July 5, 1964), Ian Fleming, the writer who created the character of 007, passed away. Fleming, the genius author who created the spy 007 On August 12, 1964, Ian Fleming died of a heart attack today on the 12th birthday of his son Casper. He was 56 years old. He created James Bond, the spy for the British Secret Service. Of the 12 books he wrote, all but two were written by Bond. These books sold more than 18 million copies and were translated into 10 languages. Fleming earned $2.80 million, three of which were successfully brought to the screen. Educated at Eaton and Sandhurst, he aspired to be a diplomat, but became a journalist, working as a correspondent for Reuters in Moscow in 1929, a stockbroker in 1935, intelligence during the war years, and later foreign manager of the Sunday Times in London. He also used fake festivals to write novels. Some people think it was somewhat based on him that he created the character of Bond, a character who is good at playing with discarded weapons, but also likes to drive fast, play golf, love gambling, and pay attention to delicious food.