John Creasey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Creasey
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| Born | 17 September 1908 Southfields, London Borough of Wandsworth, England |
| Died | 9 June 1973 (aged 64) Salisbury, Wiltshire, England |
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| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | English |
| Genre | Crime fiction, Science fiction, Westerns, Romantic novels |
| Notable works | The Toff series George Gideon series (as J.J. Marric) Inspector Roger West series The Baron series (as Anthony Morton) Doctor Emmanuel Cellini series Dr. Palfrey series |
John Creasey was an amazing English writer who lived from 1908 to 1973. He was famous for writing detective and crime stories. But he also wrote many other types of books, like science fiction, romance, and westerns! He wrote more than 600 novels, which is a huge number! He used 28 different fake names, called pseudonyms, for his books.
John Creasey created many popular characters that appeared in several books. These include The Toff, Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron. Some of his characters even became stars on TV shows and in movies! For example, the George Gideon character was featured in the TV series Gideon's Way and the movie Gideon's Day. The Baron character also had his own TV series called The Baron.
Contents
Life and Career of a Super Writer
John Creasey was born in Southfields, London, in 1908. He came from a working-class family and was the seventh of nine children. His father was a coach maker. John went to school in London. From 1923 to 1935, he worked many different jobs. He was a clerk, worked in factories, and did sales. All this time, he was trying to become a writer.
After many rejections, his first book was finally published in 1930. His first crime novel, Seven Times Seven, came out in 1932. It was a story about a group of criminals. By 1935, he was able to become a full-time writer. He was incredibly fast at writing. In 1937 alone, he published 29 books! He once joked that he could write a whole book while being watched in a glass box.
Famous Characters and Their Stories
In 1938, John Creasey created his popular character, The Toff. The first book was called Introducing the Toff. The Toff, whose real name was Richard Rollison, was a rich gentleman who loved to solve mysteries. The word "Toff" is a British slang term for a fancy person. The Toff series became very long, with 59 novels published between 1938 and 1978.
During World War II, Creasey created another important character: Dr. Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey. Dr. Palfrey was a British secret agent. He formed a secret group called Z5, which helped the Allies fight in the war. The first book in this series was Traitor's Doom (1942). The Dr. Palfrey series had 34 books in total.
Books on Screen and Radio
Many of John Creasey's novels were turned into movies and TV shows.
- Salute the Toff (1952) and Hammer the Toff (1952) were movies based on The Toff.
- Gideon's Day (1958) was a movie about Commander George Gideon.
- The TV series Gideon's Way (1964-1965) also featured Commander George Gideon.
- The Baron (1965-1966) was another TV series based on his character.
- The BBC even made radio versions of his Inspector Roger West stories from 1967 to 1971.
Awards and Recognition
John Creasey won important awards for his writing. In 1962, he won an Edgar Award for Best Novel for Gideon's Fire. This award is given by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). In 1969, he received the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award. He was also president of the MWA in 1966, which was a big deal because he was one of only three non-American writers to have that role.
Creasey worked with many different publishers. He had long-lasting relationships with John Long and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. Later, his books were also published by Harper and Scribners in America.
John Creasey passed away in 1973 at his home in Wiltshire, England. In 2007, his family sold the rights to all his books to Fleming Literary Management.
Richard Creasey, His Son
John Creasey's son, Richard Creasey, is also a writer and TV producer. He has continued his father's "Doctor Palfrey" series. Richard writes new exciting stories about a character named Doctor Thomas Palfrey, who is a modern version of the original character.
His Many Names (Pseudonyms)
John Creasey was famous for using many different names, or pseudonyms, for his books. This allowed him to write many different types of stories without confusing his readers.
- Gordon Ashe
- Henry St. John Cooper
- Credo
- Norman Deane
- Robert Caine Frazer
- Patrick Gill
- Michael Halliday
- Charles Hogarth
- Brian Hope
- Colin Hughes
- Kyle Hunt
- Abel Mann
- Peter Manton
- J.J. Marric
- James Marsden
- Richard Martin
- Rodney Mattheson
- Anthony Morton
- Henry St. John
- Martin Richard
- Jeremy York
He also wrote Westerns under names like Ken Ranger, Tex Riley, and William K. Reilly. For his Romantic novels, he used names such as Margaret Cooke and Elise Fecamps.
His Public Life
John Creasey was interested in politics for a long time. He was a member of the Liberal party from a young age. He even said he started organizing political meetings when he was only 12!
He ran for a seat in Parliament in 1950, representing Bournemouth West. He didn't win, but he did quite well. Later, he disagreed with some of the Liberal party's ideas and left the party.
In 1966, he started his own group called the All Party Alliance. This group wanted to bring together the best ideas from all political parties. He ran in several special elections as an independent candidate, supporting his new ideas. He often did well for someone running without a major party's support.
In 1972, he changed his group's name to Evolution to Democracy (Evo). This group later joined with another party to form the "Independent Democratic Alliance." However, this new group didn't last long after Creasey passed away.
John Creasey also appeared in a film called I Protest!. In the film, he was shown collecting signatures for a petition. He wanted the government to do more to prevent road accidents.
Honours
John Creasey received an important award called the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He was given this award for his help with the United Kingdom's National Savings Movement during World War II. This movement encouraged people to save money to help the war effort.
Museum
You can learn more about John Creasey and see some of his collections at the John Creasey Museum. It is part of the Young Gallery in Salisbury, England.
