(February 18, 1929–     ): British thriller author who, according to director Terence Young, wrote the first draft of From Russia with Love in 1962 and accompanied Young on the first location trip to Istanbul. Richard Maibaum wrote the final script and received sole screenplay credit.

Deighton, born in Marylebone, London, also collaborated with Sean Connery and Kevin McClory on an early draft of James Bond of the Secret Service (a.k.a. Warhead), the proposed remake of Thunderball that was never shot.

Deighton is the author of the popular Harry Palmer series of spy novels, three of which were made into films by producer Harry Saltzman: The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain.