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George RR Martin has been proclaimed king yet again.
The celebrated author of the popular ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novel series celebrated at the 2018 Emmy Awards with the cast of Game of Thrones, the hit HBO show based on the long-running series, after the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, having also won the coveted award in 2015 and 2016.
But who is George RR Martin? How has his long career as an author and the perennial success of Game of Thrones impacted his net worth? Here’s a look at just that, plus information about his books and more.
George RR Martin celebrated another Emmy for Game of Thrones at the 2018 Emmy Awards
Who is George RR Martin?
George RR Martin is an author and television producer best-known as the writer of the epic fantasy novel series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire,’ later adapted into the popular TV series Game of Thrones starting in 2011.
He was born as George Raymond Martin in Bayonne, New Jersey on September 20, 1948.
Martin grew up in a working-class family in Bayonne that relocated to public housing in 1953 and lacked any cars. These geographical restrictions early in his life led him to develop a strong interest in science fiction, fantasy and comic books growing up as he took up writing and reading extensively.
After graduating from Northwestern University in 1970, Martin took up writing short stories and teaching at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa before relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1979. He soon began publishing novels and novellas regularly, including Windhaven in 1981 and the short story collection Nightflyers in 1985 while also working as a television screenwriter for the revival of The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast in the 1980s.
After having no success in producing his own screenplays and TV pilots, he returned to writing novels in the early 1990s and set out to write an epic fantasy series in the spirit of JRR Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings.
Martin’s own work, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire,’ met with critical acclaim after the first book of the series, ‘A Game of Thrones,’ was published in 1996. He continued to publish additional novels in the bestselling series in 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2011 while also serving as an executive producer for the HBO series Game of Thrones, the TV show based on his popular ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels that he sold the rights for in 2007.
After the outstanding critical and commercial success of Game of Thrones starting in 2011, Martin quickly became a household name in many countries throughout the world. He’s since published a number of other literary works related to his popular fantasy universe while also penning the sixth installment of it, ‘The Winds of Winter.’
How old is George RR Martin?
George RR Martin is 69-years-old.
He was born on September 20, 1948.
What is George RR Martin’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, George RR Martin’s net worth is believed to be about $65 million (£49.4m).
How does George RR Martin make his money?
Martin’s immense wealth is the result of his success as the creator of the popular ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ fantasy universe, which was later adapted into the hit HBO TV series Game of Thrones starting in 2011.
The acclaimed author reportedly makes about $15 million (£11.4m) annually in royalties from the TV show and another $10 million (£7.6m) from his successful literary works. Despite this, he lives a fairly modest and frugal lifestyle, eschewing from living a profligate life in spite of his wealth.
Who is George RR Martin’s wife?
George RR Martin’s wife is Parris McBride, whom he’s been married to since 2011.
Previously, he was married to Gale Burnick from 1975 until 1979.
George RR Martin books
Though known throughout the world for his bestselling ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series, Martin’s professional writing career goes back decades.
He first started publishing his short stories in the early 1970s, which saw his first short story ‘The Hero’ published in 1971 in Galaxy Magazine followed by ‘The Second Kind of Loneliness’ and ‘Override’ published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact published in 1972 and 1973, respectively.
After publishing his acclaimed science fiction and fantasy novella ‘A Song for Lya’ in 1974, Martin went on to publish other works like ‘Dying of the Light’ in 1977, ‘Windhaven’ in 1981, ‘The Armageddon Rag’ in 1983 and later collaborated with Stephen King to publish the novella ‘The Skin Trade’ for the ‘Dark Visions’ compilation in 1989.
After penning several TV pilots and screenplays that failed to be produced, Martin began writing his groundbreaking ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ fantasy novel series in the early 1990s. The first book of the series, ‘A Game of Thrones,’ was released in 1996 and received critical acclaim.
He soon followed up with the second novel of the series, ‘A Clash of Kings’ in 1998 and the third novel ‘A Storm of Swords’ in 2000. In 2005, he published ‘A Feast for Crows’ and then followed up with the latest book of the series, ‘A Dance with Dragons,’ in 2011.
Martin plans to release the forthcoming novels ‘The Winds of Winter’ and ‘A Dream of Spring’ to conclude the epic fantasy series, though neither has any confirmed release dates as of yet.
In recent years, he’s also published ‘Tales of Dunk and Egg,’ a series of novellas intended to serve as prequels for ‘A Song of Ice and Fire,’ starting in 2005 and other material relating to the popular fantasy universe, including ‘The World of Ice and Fire,’ a history of the fictional continent of Westeros where the novels take place, in 2014.
George RR Martin’s The Winds of Winter
The sixth book in Martin’s bestselling ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series, ‘The Winds of Winter,’ is planned for release in the future, though Martin has declined to give a firm estimate for the novel’s release.
In April 2018, he revealed that the highly-anticipated novel wouldn’t be published anytime in 2018.
On his website, Martin wrote: ‘No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least. You’re going to have to keep waiting’ for the upcoming book of the series.
The upcoming novel will reportedly take place in the far north of Westeros while the villainous Others will also make an appearance.
The famed author vowed that the story will continue where ‘A Dance with Dragons’ left off, saying: ‘Obviously, I’m going to continue the story. There were a lot of cliffhangers at the end of A Dance with Dragons. Those will be resolved very early. I’m going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen—the battle of Slaver’s Bay. And then take it from there.’
Martin has also hinted that the novel will be darker and grimmer in tone compared to his previous works, stating: ‘… I’ve been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters (are) in very dark places.’
