THE TELEGRAPH: The Second World War spy who inspired the womanising hero in the Oscar-winning film The English Patient was actually homosexual and in love with a young soldier, according to letters discovered in Germany.
Intimate correspondence penned by Hungarian-born adventurer Count Laszlo de Almásy shows he had a relationship with a soldier called Hans Entholt.
The Heinrich Barth Institute for African Studies in Cologne has made the claim after discovering love letters but has yet to publish the details.
A member of the institute's staff told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine the letters show he had several homosexual relationships: "Egyptian princes were among Almásy's lovers." >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Geheimdienstbericht – "Englischer Patient" in Wahrheit hässlicher Nazi-Spion: Das Leben des Wüstenforschers Graf László de Almásy war Vorbild für das Kinodrama "Der Englische Patient" mit dem attraktiven Ralph Fiennes in der Hauptrolle. In Wirklichkeit war Almásy jedoch ein Spion der Nazis. Und ein hässlicher noch dazu. >>> | Freitag, 21. Mai 2004
