The author of a novel that became a classic film and an international household name is facing eviction from his flat for non-payment of rent.

Charles Webb and his female partner Fred shunned the money that came with writing The Graduate, which turned into the box-office smash with Dustin Hoffman and the late Anne Bancroft.

The movie, which grossed a multi-million-pound profit, was credited with making the actors' careers but while they went on to international acclaim, fame and fortune, Mr Webb and his partner are on the verge of being turfed out of their Hove apartment because they say they cannot afford to pay their rent.

The 66-year-old couple have lived an alternative existence. They gave away their homes, returned their wedding presents, schooled their children at home and divorced in protest at marriage law.

Since writing The Graduate, Mr Webb has written a series of novels, most recently New Cardiff, which was made into the film Hope Springs with Colin Firth.

But he has never retained the royalties, preferring to spend them or give them away. He sold the film rights to The Graduate for $20,000, or £14,000 but his name still appears on many of the credits in articles dedicated to the movie.

The original script tells the story of a love triangle between a recent college graduate named Benjamin Braddock, played by Hoffman in the film, his girlfriend Elaine, played by Katharine Ross, and her famously seductive mother Mrs Robinson, played by Bancroft.

The Graduate was also turned into a theatre production in London's West End, with actresses including Kathleen Turner and Jerry Hall in the role of Mrs Robinson.

On Tuesday, the man who wrote the book that was turned into a £60-million film received a letter from his landlord threatening to start eviction proceedings for the sake of £1,570 arrears.

Mr Webb said: "I paid them everything I could."

The Californian-born writer has spent the last five years looking after his partner after she suffered a serious nervous breakdown.

Fred, who had suffered from bulimia all her life, stopped eating and dropped from her usual weight of 7st 10lbs to 6st.

She was sectioned and spent time at Hove's Mill View and former Westbourne hospital.

These days she is living at home and sleeps for much of the day.

Mr Webb, who based The Graduate on his relationship with Fred and says the affair with the older woman was fictional, would like to find somewhere for the couple to stay. They would need quiet much of the time so Fred could sleep undisturbed.

He believes it is only through sleep therapy that she will get better. Since coming off anti-depressant and anti-psychotic drugs and sleeping tablets she has improved and is back to her usual weight.

Mr Webb said: "I am trying to work out how to keep a clean and restful environment so Fred's recovery can continue. She basically slept for two years. It is a gradual process. It is really all I have thought about apart from writing.

"We find ourselves in debt and on the verge of being evicted from this flat."

If able to find somewhere to live, Mr Webb wants to market his latest works which include a much-awaited sequel to The Graduate called Home School, based on the couple's experience of opting out of the academic system, which was at the time considered extremely radical.

The couple, who have been together for half a century, were in a similar situation 17 years ago and a woman gave them a room in her house but Mr Webb is concerned that a room in someone else's home might not be quiet enough now that Fred is ill.

Mr Webb said: "The difference now is I have writing to sell. Then we had nothing. We were basically down and out. Fred was healthy then and we were a bit younger.

"You can't ask someone in their home to be real quiet."

He spent much of the money from Hope Springs paying for Fred to stay in Hove's Priory Hospital.

In the future he would like to talk to mental health groups about sleep therapy, in case it might help others.

The author sees his fame from The Graduate as "a label" and does not begrudge his financial situation in view of its success. He said: "People like me know how to survive in ways that people for whom money is the most important thing don't.

"Right now it would be nice to have a few pounds.

"I think there is almost a necessity for an artist to have that kind of relationship with money. It might be painful but a rich artist seems almost an oxymoron."

Anyone who can help should email rachel.pegg@theargus.co.uk or call 01273 544533.