Wynne also enthusiastically embraced his role, enjoying the part of a daring secret agent where he could apply his salesman skills to a higher-stakes game. 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? On this trip, Penkovsky submitted to hours of interviews with British and American intelligence officials about the Soviet Unions military and political developments. They had one child. It also helped Americans to understand how limited the Soviets capabilities actually were in the area, so as tensions grew during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy knew how much rope he could give [Soviet Premier Nikita] Khrushchev, as Duns puts it. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Describing the moment Wynne was rescued, Cumberbatch, who spent three months losing weight for the scenes, said: His clothes were sort of shrink-wrapped around this skeleton. Wynne arrived back in Britain both mentally and physically traumatised by his experience in the USSR. Starring Benedict Cumberbach as Greville Wynne and Merab Ninidze as Oleg Penkovsky, the film explores the Cold War spy story in its entirety and focuses a lot on the relationship held between British spy Wynne and Soviet militant Penkovsky. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. This intelligence gave both the United Kingdom and the United States the knowledge necessary to manage the quickly evolving military friction with the Soviet Union. 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. On 22nd April 1964, Wynne was officially exchanged for a Soviet spy, who was being held in Britain. But what he did want was to protect his wife and son. [Wynne], bless him, for all his wonderful work, was a menace and a fabricator, says Nigel West, who has written numerous books on British and American intelligence organizations, including two books specifically about fabricators in the intelligence arena. 1. 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. 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. Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs. Wynne said after his release: I was never told I was coming home. 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. It quoted unidentified close friends. He just couldnt tell the truth. "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. But the chummy interactions between the agents and Penkovskys prolific, even reckless, acquisition of materials grew increasingly perilousand finally caught the KGBs attention. 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 committee was dedicated to developing opportunities for foreigners in science and technology. 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. The MI6 agent suffered from depression after imprisonment and torture. Penkovsky's career in the Soviet military had been hindered by the fact that his father had died fighting as an officer for the White Army against the Bolsheviks (Red Army) during the Russian Civil War (1917 1923) and Penkovsky didn't denounce this legacy. She had worked as his secretary and interpreter, as she spoke eight different languages. 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. He was detained at Lubyanka prison. [9] Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, though Wynne believed he died by suicide in prison. 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. In the movie, he only seeks assurances that he will be able to defect with his family. 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. This was because he took regular business trips to Eastern Europe. He was released in a swap at a checkpoint in Berlin in April, 1964, in exchange for Soviet spy Konon Molody, known in Britain as Gordon Lonsdale. Greville Wynne was born on March 19 1919. Andrew Wynne born 1952, age 69 (approx.) [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]. Computer monitoring devices to help you and your loved ones stay protected online. Wynne wrote about his time as a spy in a book entitled The Man from Odessa, first published in 1981. 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. See our devices & software. These events serve as the inspiration for The Courier, the new film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Wynne and Georgian actor Merab Ninidze as Penkovsky, out in theaters on March 19. Our complete range of spy cameras. The film is out now. 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. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. Full name. Among the materials Penkovsky provided to Wynne were four photocopies of plans for construction sites of missile-launching installations in Cuba. Protect those closest to you with our phone monitoring solutions. Wynne returned to his life as a businessman. 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. Explore how the celebrity world connects. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Even the official accounts put out by American and Russian authorities regarding the Penkovsky affair include disinformation and spin that he, or any historian, has to navigate through. He is the author of The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York. Find family history information in a whole new way In his memoirs A Man From Moscow published in 1967 and in a later book, The Man From Odessa, Wynne revealed further details of his spying activities. This version is supported by Alexander Zagvozdin, who was the KGB's chief interrogator during the investigation. [4], In November 1960, Wynne was recruited by MI6 and asked to make a sales trip to Moscow,[6] where he made contact with Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking GRU officer. He said he first joined the British security services in 1938 and worked for them during World War II. Strange" to Sherlock Holmes. 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. This kind of psychological game made them easier to handle during interrogations.. Opposition Labor Party legislator Ted Leadbitter said of Wynne in a statement to reporters Wednesday night: How many secrets has this man taken to his grave?. The week before Wynne entered Hungary, Penkovsky was captured by the Soviet Union. Our listening devices are concealed within items that won't raise suspicion, from car keys to bear toys. Your IP: On October 29 of that year, just hours after the Soviets stood down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Wynne went to Soviet-occupied Budapest with a traveling exhibition of British industrial goods, against the advice of his MI6 handlers. 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