Elleston Trevor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elleston Trevor
The author in 1970
Born	(1920-02-17)17 February 1920 Bromley, Kent, United Kingdom
Died	21 July 1995(1995-07-21) (aged 75) Arizona, US
Occupation	British novelist and playwright - creator of Quiller
Years active	1943–1995

Elleston Trevor (born Trevor Dudley-Smith on February 17, 1920 – died July 21, 1995) was a very busy British writer. He wrote many different kinds of books, including exciting adventure stories and spy thrillers. He used several different names for his books, which are called "pseudonyms."

Trevor is best known for his 1964 adventure story, The Flight of the Phoenix. He also wrote a popular series of Cold War thrillers about a British secret agent named Quiller. These spy books were written under the name Adam Hall. In total, Elleston Trevor wrote over 100 books!

He also used other pen names like Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith, and Lesley Stone.

Life and Work

Early Life

Elleston Trevor was born as Trevor Dudley-Smith on February 17, 1920. He didn't enjoy his early school days. Later, he became a racing driver. During World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a Flight Engineer. Even while serving in the air force, he started writing and had several children's storybooks published.

In the 1950s, he became a very successful author of military adventure stories. His spy writing began in the early 1960s. He was often called "Adam Hall, the mystery author of international bestsellerdom" on his book covers.

Private Life

Trevor was born in Bromley, Kent, England. After World War II, he lived near Brighton before moving out of the United Kingdom. He lived in Spain and France for 15 years. In 1973, he moved to the United States, living in Phoenix, Arizona. He passed away in 1995 in Cave Creek, Arizona.

He had a son named Jean Pierre Trevor. Trevor was also skilled in karate. For fun, he enjoyed flying kites and racing miniature cars.

Writing

Elleston Trevor wrote many different types of stories.

The Quiller Series

The Quiller series is about a secret British agent named Quiller. He works for a very secret organization in London. This group officially doesn't exist, which allows them to do very risky missions. Quiller tells his own stories. He is a skilled driver, pilot, diver, and martial artist. He also speaks many languages. However, he does not carry a gun.

The Quiller books are known for their exciting descriptions of spy techniques. They often feature intense car chases and detailed hand-to-hand combat scenes.

The first Quiller novel, The Berlin Memorandum (1965), won an Edgar Award for Best Novel. This award is given by the Mystery Writers of America. The book was made into a movie in 1966 called The Quiller Memorandum. It also became a British TV series in 1975.

Other Novels

Under the name "Simon Rattray," Trevor wrote mystery novels about a clever man named Hugo Bishop. Bishop solved crimes like a puzzle. The first Bishop novel was Knight Sinister in 1951.

Trevor also wrote non-mystery books. For example, The Billboard Madonna (1961) is about a man who accidentally causes a car crash and then tries to remember the woman involved.

As "Adam Hall," he wrote The Volcanoes of San Domingo. This book is about a mysterious plane crash and the efforts to find out what really happened.

Children's Books

Elleston Trevor also wrote many books for children. He created a character called "Wumpus," a koala, and his friends, including Flip Flap, the penguin. Some of these titles include Wumpus (1945) and More about Wumpus (1947).

He also wrote other animal stories like Scamper-Foot the Pine Marten and Ripple-Swim the Otter. His "Woodlander" series included books like Deep Wood and Mole's Castle.

Film and Radio

His book The Big Pick-Up was one of the stories used for the 1958 film Dunkirk. Trevor also wrote plays for BBC Radio.

Works

Novels

As by Elleston Trevor

• The Immortal Error (1946)
• The Big Pick-Up (1955)
• Squadron Airborne (1955)
• The Flight of the Phoenix (1964)
• Bury Him Among Kings (1970)

As by Adam Hall

• The Volcanoes of San Domingo (1963)
• Quiller series:
  • The Berlin Memorandum (1965) (also known as The Quiller Memorandum)
  • The 9th Directive (1966)
  • The Striker Portfolio (1968)
  • The Warsaw Document (1971)
  • The Tango Briefing (1973)
  • The Mandarin Cypher (1975)
  • The Kobra Manifesto (1976)
  • The Sinkiang Executive (1978)
  • The Scorpion Signal (1979)
  • The Pekin Target (1981)
  • Northlight (1985)
  • Quiller's Run (1988)
  • Quiller KGB (1989)
  • Quiller Barracuda (1990)
  • Quiller Bamboo (1991)
  • Quiller Solitaire (1992)
  • Quiller Meridian (1993)
  • Quiller Salamander (1994)
  • Quiller Balalaika (1996)

As by Simon Rattray

• Knight Sinister (1951)

Children's books

As by Elleston Trevor

• Animal Life series:
  • Scamperfoot, the Pine Marten (1943)
  • Ripple-Swim, the Otter (1944)
• Happy Glade/Deep Wood series:
  • Deep Wood (1945)
  • Mole's Castle (1951)
• Wumpus series:
  • Wumpus (1945)
  • More about Wumpus (1947)

Stage plays

As by Elleston Trevor

• The Last of the Daylight (1959)

Radio plays

As by Elleston Trevor

• Knight Sinister (1952)
• Dead Silence (1953)