Douglas Adams's Biography

Douglas Adams was born on 11 March 1952 in Cambridge, England.

Before going to St John's College, Cambridge, where he became a writer for the Cambridge Footlights, his first published work was a short story in the comic, The Eagle, which Adams had written when he was just 11.

After graduating from Cambridge, Douglas Adams continued to write sketches and wrote and appeared in a revue at the Edinburgh fringe festival in August 1976.

In 1977 the BBC commissioned Douglas Adams to write what became the cult science fiction classic, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as episodes of Doctor Who.

Douglas Adams ended up writing eight episodes of Doctor Who, four under the pseudonym David Agnew.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and became a huge success and led to numerous spin-offs including a book, published in October 1979, which sold more than 14m copies worldwide.

The television series was broadcast in January and February 1981, however Adams himself preferred the radio version.

In the 1980s Douglas Adams wrote several follow-ups to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as well as non-related stories like Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul (1988).

Douglas Adams married Jane Elizabeth Belson on 25 November 1991 and they had a daughter, Polly Jane Rocket Adams.

In the 1990s Douglas Adams spent much of his time in California, and settled there in 1999.

Douglas Adams died of a heart attack in his local gym in Montecito, California, on 11 May 2001.