"His clothes were sort of shrink-wrapped around this skeleton," says Cumberbatch, who spent three months losing weight and physically preparing to portray Wynne's final months of ordeal. Greville passed away. Khruschev later backed off and ordered the Soviet missiles returned to the Soviet Union after President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba. [12] In April 1964, amid British concerns for his deteriorating health,[6] Wynne was released in exchange for the Soviet spy Konon Molody (also known as Gordon Lonsdale).[13]. Cumberbatch, whose mother is actress Wanda Ventham, is best known for playing Sherlock in the BBC drama and Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. "And Greville played a big part in that.". British Spy Greville Wynne Dead At 71. Her Other Children Greville Wynne Bio Details Full name Greville Maynard Wynne Gender Male Age 70 Date of birth Wednesday 19 Mar 1919 Birth place Wrockwardine Wood, Shropshire, Wales, UK Date of death: 28 Feb 1990 Place of death Cromwell Hospital, South Kensington, London, England, UK Cause of death He said there were no hard feelings from Lewis, who has been very supportive. A drink-loving. At the time, they were largely accepted at face value and sold well. It was directed by English director Dominic Cook, who is also known for films such as On Chesil Beach and Follies. He said the double agent also told him Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev had allowed important guidance equipment to be sent with Soviet missiles being installed in Cuba. Even though Wynne wasnt exactly a reliable narrator for what he did during his time as a secret agent, the materials he smuggled from behind the Iron Curtain were the real thing. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. After that divorce, Wynne took another wife, Herma van Buren. The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne", "Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film", "Nonfiction Book Review: The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War by Jerrold L. Schecter, Author, Peter S. Deriabin, With Scribner Book Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greville_Wynne&oldid=1141334696, He was portrayed by Peter Lindford in the 2007, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 15:01. , updated Upon release from prison, Wynnes old life was in tattershed lost much of his business and the time spent in the Soviet prison seemed to have caused long-term damage. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. However, Wynne and his wife Sheila split up, after Sheila became suspicious of his frequent trips to Eastern Europe and the Soviet State, thinking that he was having an affair. Penkovsky gave a huge amount of details about what missiles the Soviets had, how old they were, how there were queues for foodit was an extremely vivid portrait of the country and the people within intelligence, says Duns. Oleg Penkovsky had his sights set on moving to the West and building a better life with his family and, therefore, he was keen to expose some of the Soviets most valuable military secrets. Konon Molody features in the story of The Ruislip Home That Contained A Soviet Spy Ring, which reveals how he ended up in a British prison. Greville Wynne, who spied on the Soviet Union for Britain in the cold war and who spent 18 months in a Moscow prison after being caught, died of throat cancer on Wednesday, hospital officials. In the movie, the title refers to Oleg Penkovsky's codename. He said he acted as the intermediary for Soviet double agent Col. Oleg Penkovsky, a senior military intelligence officer who passed Moscow secrets to MI6 and the CIA. Find out about the best deals and the latest Spy Gear first Despite having no previous experience in intelligence work, Wynne was being recruited to serve as an MI6 agent. Then after your service, when you havent even told your family or friends about this, youre told, thank you very much, indeed. In 1961 and 1962, at the height of the Cold War, disgruntled colonel Oleg Penkovsky (portrayed by Merab Ninidze) became the highest-ranking Soviet military official to spy for the United Kingdom up until that time. British spy Greville Wynne became one of Penkovsky's couriers, delivering information back to MI6 and the CIA. He said he first joined the British security services in 1938 and worked for them during World War II. Sentenced toeight years in a labor camp, Wynne spent 18 months in Moscow'sLubyanka Prison, where he was subjected to beatings and torture. But do note that it is not possible to be certain of a person's genealogy without a family's cooperation (and/or DNA testing). Also, see Wynne in his appearance on the American game show To Tell the Truth. Officials in London had also been aware of Penkovsky since he had approached two British businessmen and gave them his business card in hopes it would reach MI6. Make way for his amateur,everyman spy Greville Wynne in "The Courier," now on premium VOD6. In this edition, we will be focusing on the remarkable life and story of British spy, Greville Wynne. On 22nd April 1964, Wynne was officially exchanged for a Soviet spy, who was being held in Britain. Assisting him in his role as "courier" is Oleg Penkovsky ( Merab Ninidze ), a far more experienced Russian agent. Cookie Settings, Liam Daniel, Courtesy of Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York. His wife Sheila divorced him and he became estranged from his only son Andrew. Well, his journey as a spy began in November of 1960, at the age 41. Greville Wynne had a wife, Sheila, and a son, Andrew. This led to the publication of his dubious memoirs. His second wife, whom he married in 1970, was Herma van Buren, his constant companion, secretary and interpreter who spoke eight languages. I chatted to him not just about the film but his life and it was really interesting. He began working for MI6 in 1960, making contact with Penkovsky. He just was an ordinary man who got thrust into this just extraordinary, life-altering situation that was going to define his existence forever, says OConnor. He and his wife Sheila divorced not long after his release. Wynne was a businessman at this point in his life and, during this month, he sat down for lunch not knowing that it would significantly change his life. They separated several years ago. It was during one of these meetings that Wynne met Oleg Penkovsky, a lieutenant colonel in the GRU, which was the Soviet Unions foreign-intelligence agency. [14], Wynne struggled with depression and alcoholism in the aftermath of imprisonment. February 28, 1990. edit data. Wynne was then hit over the head and knocked out, bundled into a car and taken to prison where interrogators played out a guessing game to establish the links between him and Penkovsky. Greville passed away on February 28 1990, at age 70. This kind of psychological game made them easier to handle during interrogations.. [8][9] Wynne was sentenced to eight years in prison. Both economy and specialist counter surveillance devices. Penkovsky had made earlier offers to spy for the West. Mild-mannered salesman Greville Wynne was recruited by MI6 to work with a Soviet double agent on secret missions across the Iron Curtain and now his story is being told in new movie The Courier. The engineer-turned-business man Greville Wynne was, in fact, recruited by the MI6 in November of 1960. Bert Wynne{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Bert Wynne", "gender": "Male" }, Ada Wynne{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Ada Wynne", "gender": "Female" }, Gordon Beaton{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Gordon Beaton", "gender": "Male" }, Elsie Beaton{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Elsie Beaton", "gender": "Female" }, married about 31 Jul 1970divorce circa 1986, Nada Wynne{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Nada Wynne", "gender": "Female" }, Andrew Wynne{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Wynne", "gender": "Male" }, Cromwell Hospital, South Kensington, London, England, UK, Nottingham University, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, View Greville Wynne's Family Tree and History, Ancestry and Genealogy, Greville Wynne's father was Bert Wynne Greville Wynne's mother was Ada Wynne, Greville Wynne's former wife is Herma van Buren Greville Wynne's former wife was Sheila Wynne, Greville Wynne's former father in law was Gordon Beaton Greville Wynne's former mother in law was Elsie Beaton, View Sheila Wynne's Family Tree and History, Ancestry and Genealogy, Sheila Wynne's father was Gordon Beaton Sheila Wynne's mother was Elsie Beaton, Sheila Wynne's former husband was Greville Wynne, Sheila Wynne's former father in law was Bert Wynne Sheila Wynne's former mother in law was Ada Wynne Sheila Wynne's former sister in law is Nada Wynne. There, he was reportedly subjected to severe beatings, malnourishment, and spent a great deal of his time locked up in solitary confinement. Greville Wynne Greville Wynne married Sheila Wynne (born Beaton). The 12-year-old bears an uncanny resemblance to Benedict Cumberbatch, which caught the eye of the casting director on the Hollywood stars latest film. However, in real life, IRONBARK was the codename for the documents that Soviet double agent Oleg Penkovsky had been passing to the CIA. In 1950, engineer Greville Wynne set up his own business as an exporter of industrial engineering products. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. In The Courier, he plays Andrew, son of Greville Wynne, a real-life businessman who was recruited by MI6 as a spy. Strange sequel. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. However, shortly after Grevilles return to Britain, Sheila divorced him. The emaciated Wynne's returntohis middle-class Londonhomewherehis wife and child waited made for a jarring scene in newsreels at the time. If you have any questions for our team about our spy histories articles, the spy industry in general, or any of the spy equipment that is available through our website, please contact us today. It is believed to be correct at the time of inputting and is presented here in good faith. Description. British officials have never officially commented on his accounts. They had to go through a show trial, basically, so on the stand Wynne accused MI6 of using him as a dupehe may have just been saying whatever he could say because he worried they might execute him, says Jeremy Duns, an author of several spy novels set during the Cold War as well as the history book Codename: Hero: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold Wars Most Dangerous Operation. Performance & security by Cloudflare. -The New York Times. During a business trip, he made contact with Oleg Penkovsky in Moscow, a high-ranking Soviet Intelligence colonel. The pair went on trial in Moscow in 1963 and Wynne was sentenced to eight years five in a labour camp and three in the citys chilling Lubyanka Prison after pleading guilty to espionage. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. Cookie Policy Privacy Statement No question. Wynne went along, slightly concerned about whether Penkovsky was on the level and concerned about putting himself into a dangerous situation, kicking off what would be one of the most productive clandestine operations in Cold War history. Historians question this account. GV.AIRPORT BUILDINGS. He was 71. Wynne married his second wife, Herma van Buren, in 1970. Under the guise of a sales trip, he made his first contact with high-ranking Soviet intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky in Moscow.The Courier true story reveals that Wynne met Penkovsky eight months after the Soviet double agent had first tried to get in touch with the CIA by handing a bulky envelope of documents to two wary American students in Moscow. On 23 May 1966, he appeared as himself in an episode of the American television series To Tell the Truth, receiving two of four possible votes. Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919[2] 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. Thus began their fruitful relationship, one that involved Wynne hosting Penkovsky in London, who was visiting under the pretense of cultivate new opportunities in the West. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. [6] Wynne and Penkovsky each pleaded guilty on 7 May 1963 and were sentenced four days later. Benedict Cumberbatch is known for bringing outlandish, extraordinary characters, from Marvel's "Dr. Penkovskys dynamism and enthusiasm, his wide-ranging and passionate denunciations of the Soviet system and its leaders illustrated with anecdotes, fascinated and captivated the American and British teams, write Schecter and Deriabin. In the late 1960s, after he had been imprisoned for his spycraft and could no longer assist MI6 nor the CIA, the amateur spy authored a pair of books: The Man From Moscow: The Story of Wynne and Penkovsky and The Man From Odessa, that were riddled with falsehoods. He said Penkovsky provided him the names and photographs of about 300 East bloc intelligence agents details of Soviet missile sites, and an analysis of Soviet military manpower and weapon production. It led to him and a Soviet double agent, Oleg Penkovsky, becoming firm friends, involved in smuggling thousands of documents and photographs across enemy lines. Wynne would later relate that as he walked down the steps of an exhibition pavilion, four men suddenly appeared as a car pulled up and Wynne was pushed inside. Dont call us, well call you in a couple years. When Greville got out of prison, he was not prepared, as people obviously are not in those circumstances, to be ignored.. Wynne was a well known character on the island in the 1980s and at one stage . Cumberbatch also gives an update on the Dr. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Here's what to know about Wynne's real history. Share or comment on this article: Wynne returned to his life as a businessman. See FameChain's massive Trump family tree. LONDON (AP) _ Greville Wynne, a British spy who told in his celebrated memoirs how he pried loose some of Moscow's best-kept secrets and who served 18 months in a Soviet prison for espionage, has died. He returned to his business career, but also tried to cash in on his espionage fame. [4], After the Second World War, he traded in electrical equipment, travelling often through Europe and India. He was married twice. Cold War Budapest in 1962 was not the most welcoming place for a British businessman, but Greville Wynne was feeling rather pleased with himself. "He did make a life for himself, but Greville Wynne did pay a big price for his service. The Courier is also not the first time that Greville Wynnes story has attracted attention over the years. It was on this day that Wynne was captured by the Soviets and flown over to Moscow for sentencing. 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