This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Bernard Samson" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(December 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Fictional character
Bernard Samson
First appearance
Berlin Game
Last appearance
Charity
Created by
Len Deighton
Portrayed by
Ian Holm
In-universe information
Occupation
SIS agent
Spouse
Fiona Samson
Nationality
English
Bernard Samson is a fictional character created by Len Deighton. Samson is a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) – usually referred to as "the Department" in the novels. He is a central character in three trilogies written by Deighton, set in the years 1983–1988, with a large gap between 1984 and 1987. The first trilogy comprises the books Berlin Game, Mexico Set and London Match, the second comprises Spy Hook, Spy Line and Spy Sinker, and the third and final trilogy comprises Faith, Hope and Charity. The plot of the entire trilogy of trilogies revolves around Samson's wife Fiona, also an intelligence officer, and which side she is really working for, after she has defected to the East Germans in the first trilogy, leaving a distraught Bernard with their two children. Her defection also causes some of his superiors to question his loyalty.
Samson undergoes sacrifice in his duties and is often ignored by his superiors, being passed over for promotion or sent to Berlin during Christmas. This is especially true in the first trilogy. Like Deighton's earlier unnamed spy character ("Harry Palmer" in the film adaptations), Samson is cynical and has a disrespect for his superiors and any ambitious colleagues.[1]
Bernard's description appears in Berlin Game:
My photo stared back at me from its silver frame. Bernard Samson, a serious young man with a baby face, wavy hair and horn-rimmed glasses, looked nothing like the wrinkled old fool I shaved every morning.
— Len Deighton, Berlin Game[2]
Bernard Samson is also the name of a Swiss Franciscan seller of indulgences, who was denounced by Zwingli in 1516.[3]
^Woods, Brett F. (2007). Neutral Ground: A Political History of Espionage Fiction. Algora Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-87586-535-5.
^Deighton, Len (1983). Berlin Game. Hutchinson. p. 172. ISBN 0-09-154190-5.
^Lindberg, Carter (1996). The European Reformations. Blackwell Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 1-55786-575-2.
BernardSamson is a fictional character created by Len Deighton. Samson is a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the Secret...
Deighton. It is the first novel in the first of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence...
Tom's Midnight Garden (1999). She starred as Fiona Samson, the double agent and wife of BernardSamson (played by Ian Holm) in the television adaptation...
novel by Len Deighton, concluding the first of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the...
by the Book Hercule Poirot Television film 1988 Game, Set and Match BernardSamson 13 episodes 1989 The Tailor of Gloucester The Tailor Television film...
novels" in spy fiction, including three trilogies and a prequel featuring BernardSamson. Deighton authored two television scripts, the first of which was Long...
the trilogies, was published in 1987. The trilogies are centred on BernardSamson, a tough, cynical and disrespectful MI6 intelligence officer. Deighton...
Deighton. It is the second novel in the first of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the...
Deighton. It is the first novel in the second of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the...
Deighton. It is the second novel in the second of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the...
from New York Bret Rensselaer, an American-born, British spy in the BernardSamson novels Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a university in Troy, New York...
novel Berlin Game, which contains the following passage, spoken by BernardSamson: 'Ich bin ein Berliner,' I said. It was a joke. A Berliner is a doughnut...
Samson Raphael Hirsch (Hebrew: שמשון רפאל הירש; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of...
Deighton. It is the final novel in the second of three trilogies about BernardSamson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the...
Bernard Hill (17 December 1944 – 5 May 2024) was an English actor. He was known for his versatile roles in both television and film, and his career spanned...
Samson of Mauvoisin or Reims (died 1161) was the French archbishop of Reims from 1140 to 1161. He is a significant historical figure of his times. He undertook...
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder...
William Byars Samson (born 1943, in Forfar) is a Scottish astronomer, academic, computer scientist and a researcher in the fields of Astronomy, Databases...
Sarah Bernhardt (French: [saʁa bɛʁnɑʁt]; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some...
Global Information