Bestselling author Michael Crichton has died after a long battle with cancer, his family said yesterday. The acclaimed writer passed away on Tuesday, aged 66.

Born in Chicago, Crichton enjoyed a successful career that spanned five decades. Though he grew up in America, he had a Scottish heritage, and has cited Edinburgh-born author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of his influences.

He shot to fame in 1990 with worldwide hit Jurassic Park, which spawned the 1993 film of the same name, and he was also responsible for the widely acclaimed television series ER, which launched the career of actor George Clooney.

Crichton began writing as a teenager, with a travel piece published in the New York Times at the age of just 14, and went on to sell more than 150 million books worldwide.

He attended Harvard where he studied anthropology. Initially writing novels to pay his way through college, he broke through with science fiction thriller The Andromeda Strain in 1969.

His distinctive reportage style made him a favourite with readers around the world, and his books - including Congo, Disclosure, Timeline, Prey and Next - have been global bestsellers in recent years. His writing has also been translated into 36 languages, and 13 of his novels have been turned into films. In 2002, he also had a newly discovered dinosaur named for him: Crichtonsaurus bohlini.

The author is survived by his wife Sherri and daughter Taylor.