0.06 2. I chatted to him not just about the film but his life and it was really interesting. Despite what hed been through, Wynne head shaved while in prison still managed to joke in an interview that the style was the prisons interpretation of a haircut. Ameeting between theRussian prisoners, in which Wynne tellsPenkovsky of the import of his information, asdepicted in the film, is drama. Discover our wide range of tracking devices. On 29th October 1962, Wynne travelled to Soviet-occupied Budapest just hours after the Soviets stood down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, going against the advice of MI6. 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. But what he did want was to protect his wife and son. Greville Wynne was a British businessman who had a liking for the drink and the ability to travel between countries without question. 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 acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from Soviet agent Oleg Penkovsky. When it came to writing the screenplay, OConnor laments that the true story of Wynnes experiences may never be known. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. Childhood pictures of Cumberbatch at a similar age prove why Keir was the perfect fit and he is now appearing as the son of his 45-year-old doppelganger in Cold War thriller The Courier. US based Meghan and Harry.. FameChain has their amazing trees. Despite having no previous experience in intelligence work, Wynne was being recruited to serve as an MI6 agent. After his release, Wynne struggled with depression and alcoholism. This gave American officials a clearer picture of what the Soviets were doing in the region, bringing in medium-range ballistic missiles. 01:26 GMT 14 Aug 2021. In 1985 he was portrayed by actor David Calder in the BBC series Wynne and Penkovsky, and in 2007 by Peter Lindford for BBC drama Nuclear Secrets. However, life wasn't always easy for Wynne after his imprisonment. The Courier premiered at Sundance in January 2020 under its original title,Ironbark. Privacy Statement "He did make a life for himself, but Greville Wynne did pay a big price for his service. As for Rachel Brosnahan's character, CIA operative Emily Donovan, she is not based on a real person. Cookie Policy The Wynne-Penkovsky coalition kickstarted one of the most covert operations in Cold War history. He returned to his business career, but also tried to cash in on his espionage fame. 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. 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. Easy to set up and use. As mentioned, Greville Wynne had a son named Andrew with his first wife, Sheila. Wynne was a middle-classBritish businessman whose frequenttravelto Eastern Europe attracted recruitmentby MI-6 to serve as a liaison to high-ranking Soviet official Penkovsky. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. He was married twice. 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. This time it's a true story:Wynne served as an unassuming go-between for British intelligence MI-6 and Russian spyOleg Penkovsky atthe height of the Cold War. After months of negotiations, the British government was eventually able to arrange a trade of Wynne for the Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale, whod been arrested the year before and was serving a 25-year sentence in England. Wynne died of throat cancer in Londons Cromwell Hospital on Wednesday, the British domestic news agency Press Association reported. This kind of psychological game made them easier to handle during interrogations.. Your IP: Some of the most advanced and very best spy cameras on the market. 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 did make a life for himself, but Greville Wynne did pay a big price for his service. British spy Greville Wynne became one of Penkovsky's couriers, delivering information back to MI6 and the CIA. In the movie, he only seeks assurances that he will be able to defect with his family. 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. So we got along a lot.. A famous picture shows Andrew, Greville and Sheila together outside of their London home immediately after Grevilles release from prison. In this edition, we will be focusing on the remarkable life and story of British spy, Greville Wynne. But over time, intelligence experts and those involved in the case, though reluctant to share sensitive information, cast doubt on much of what Wynne laid out in his books. The MI6 specialist experienced post-arrest sadness and torment. 'The Courier' is currently lived by his son, Andrew as he had already passed away in 1990 at the age of 70. His first wife, Sheila, was present throughout his Moscow trial but divorced him after his release. They had one child. During a business trip, he made contact with Oleg Penkovsky in Moscow, a high-ranking Soviet Intelligence colonel. He got married again in 1970, to his secretary Herma van Buren, who also worked as an interpreter and spoke eight languages. The MI6 agent suffered from depression after imprisonment and torture. In the article, well explore exactly who Greville Wynne was, his spy activity and how his story sparked such wide intrigue. "Most experts agreethat what Penkovsky provided on the Soviet's capabilities was extremely useful during the Cuban Missile crisis," saysRobert English, director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. a divorce from his wife and estrangement from his son, Wynne initially played along with . On this trip, Penkovsky submitted to hours of interviews with British and American intelligence officials about the Soviet Unions military and political developments. Wynne returned to his life as a businessman. Sentenced toeight years in a labor camp, Wynne spent 18 months in Moscow'sLubyanka Prison, where he was subjected to beatings and torture. F T W M. A new Hollywood blockbuster based on the life of the late Cold war British spy Greville Wynne, who retired to Majorca, is being produced starring Benedict Cumberbatch of Doctor Strange and Sherlock fame. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. Andrew and Sheila lived in Britain whilst Greville served his prison sentence in Moscow. A broken man, he turned to alcohol on his release and told. They were alone in the world with this incredible burden except for the other man.. But the chummy interactions between the agents and Penkovskys prolific, even reckless, acquisition of materials grew increasingly perilousand finally caught the KGBs attention. After a meeting in Paris in September 1961, Penkovskys next trips were mysteriously cancelled at the last minute. The man sitting across the table from him revealed he worked for MI6 and that 41-year-old Wynnes frequent trips to Eastern Europe selling British electrical engineering parts to industrial companies would be the perfect cover for a job the secret service needed doing. Wynne literally goes from being a charming businessman heading towards retirement, says the actor, to someone secreting Minox film cartridges in his case as he tos-and-fros to Moscow., He was an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing. [7], Wynne's and Penkovsky's espionage activities were discovered by the KGB. As weve established, Greville Wynne spent the majority of his professional life as an engineer and a businessman, so how did he actually become a spy? Learn more. Keir has appeared as a shepherd in Cadburys 2015 Christmas advert and as a flight attendant in a Vodafone commercial. [5] His business extended into Eastern Bloc countries from 1955. 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. -The New York Times. Make way for his amateur,everyman spy Greville Wynne in "The Courier," now on premium VOD6. Yes. The authors of The Spy Who Saved the World wrote, He [Wynne] had no previous intelligence experience or training.[6] Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960. -The New York Times. His son Andrew, now in his sixties, politely declined to comment when contacted by the Sunday Mirror about his fathers colourful past. Johanna Herma van Buren. Share or comment on this article: Benedict Cumberbatch delivers an appealing, technically tricky performance in "The Courier," in which he plays Greville Wynne, a British salesman who in the 1960s became an improbable player . Single use in context. Find out about the best deals and the latest Spy Gear first Wynne left The Ivy restaurant in Seven Dials that day probably wondering what hed let himself in for. A stand-off between US President John F Kennedy and Russias Nikita Khrushchev ended with the Soviet president backing down at the 11th hour and removing the threatening missiles. Should you have information that conflicts with anything shown please make us aware by email. In 2007, Peter Lindford portrayed Wynne in episode one of the BBC docudrama Nuclear Secrets, titled "The Spy from Moscow.". 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. The emaciated Wynne's returntohis middle-class Londonhomewherehis wife and child waited made for a jarring scene in newsreels at the time. 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. British Spy Greville Wynne Dead At 71. It's athank you from the West for what he sacrificed.". 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. Also, see Wynne in his appearance on the American game show To Tell the Truth. In one of his biggest whoppers, Wynne explains that he and Penkovsky took a trip together in a private military jet from the U.K. to Washington, D.C. Both Wynne and Penkovsky were convicted of espionage. Wynne was a British businessman who, from 1960 and 1962, smuggled thousands of pieces of intel out of Russia before he was captured, imprisoned, and tortured for two years by the KGB. Keir, who is from London, doesnt have acting classes but enjoys drama at school. It isnt common knowledge as to whether Andrew and Greville retained a relationship following the divorce. She had worked as his secretary and interpreter, speaking eight languages. By The action you just performed triggered the security solution. He also held the view that leaking this information would bring him a great deal of recognition and a sense of honour. Meanwhile, 43-year-old Oleg Penkovsky was sentenced to death for his role in the spy activity. Penkovsky and Wynnes spy activity produced mountains of information, would go on to play a role in the cuban missile crisis, and subsequently lead to their conviction in 1963. But he reportedly committed suicide in a Soviet labor camp. In an overcoat, wearing a trilby and carrying a briefcase, middle-aged travelling salesman Greville Wynne looked every inch a rather ordinary, unremarkable family man going about his daily life. It is believed to be correct at the time of inputting and is presented here in good faith. Devices such as phone chargers, watches and pens. These guys were in the foxhole togetherthey each had a secret that only the other man knew, says OConnor. This true story is a very interesting, skewed way to telling a ticking time-bomb, spy-thriller.. The BBC produced a TV movie based on them. However, shortly after Grevilles return to Britain, Sheila divorced him. A drink-loving. No question. Keir told the Daily Mail: My mum chatted to the casting director and said I look a lot like Benedict Cumberbatch, so they asked me for a video of myself, which I did in a cloakroom, and they eventually asked me in for a recall in person and I got the role.. 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. Wynne married his second wife, Herma van Buren, in 1970. Click to reveal March 1, 1990. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? He was flown to Moscow, imprisoned, and tried alongside Penkovsky, who it would later be learned had been arrested the week before Wynne entered Hungary. 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 officials also never confirmed or denied Wynnes spying claims, and he didnt receive any official recognition for his work. He loves his mum too. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a10a13b9bbf427a | The engineer-turned-business man Greville Wynne was, in fact, recruited by the MI6 in November of 1960. On 11th May 1963, a Moscow tribunal ruled that Greville Wynne was to serve an eight year sentence for his role in supplying British and American intelligence officers with Soviet information. The Courier true story reveals that top KGB officials knew that Penkovsky was a double agent for more than a year, but they wanted to protect their source, a valuable mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). His name was Konon Molody, but was known in the West as Gordon Lonsdale. The businessman released from a Soviet labour camp was Greville Wynne, a figure portrayed in the media, and in British government protests, as an innocent engineer who had been incarcerated while attending a trade fair in Budapest in November 1962. . An NSA employee-turned-Soviet Spy named Jack Dunlap revealed Penkovsky's treasonous activities to the KGB, despite the KGB having already known about the betrayal. Greville Maynard Wynne was a British spy famous for his involvement with, and imprisonment as a result of, the espionage activities of Oleg Penkovsky. Greville Wynne was born on March 19 1919. Both men were arrested in November 1962, around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Usually we get asked to do the same role, so we help each other out with learning the script and we give each other advice.. The pair first met in December 1960 and became close acquaintances, meeting up in London and Eastern Europe up until 1962. 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. 1. In November 1960, Greville Wynne, a 41-year-old British businessman, sat down for a lunch that would change his life. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine They spent so much time together in Moscow, partying and clubbing as well as their secret work, that Wynnes first wife Sheila thought he was having an affair. A British businessman accused of spying for the West has been sentenced to eight years' detention by a Moscow tribunal. 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. Yes. 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