Elleston Trevor

Elleston Trevor (17 February 1920[1] – 21 July 1995) was a British novelist and playwright who wrote under several pseudonyms. Born Trevor Dudley-Smith, he eventually changed his name to Elleston Trevor.[2] Trevor worked in many genres, but is principally remembered for his 1964 adventure story The Flight of the Phoenix, written as Elleston Trevor, and for a series of Cold War thrillers featuring the British secret agent Quiller, written under the pseudonym Adam Hall.

He also wrote as Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith and Lesley Stone.

Life and work

Born Trevor-Dudley Smith in Bromley, Kent, he lived in Spain and France before moving in 1973 to the United States, where he lived in Phoenix, Arizona. He was married and had a son Jean Pierre Trevor. He was proficient in karate.

Writing

The Quiller series focuses on a solitary, highly capable spy (named after Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) who works (generally alone) for a government bureau that "doesn't exist" and narrates his own adventures. Quiller (not his real name) occupies a literary middle ground between James Bond and John le Carré. He is a skilled driver, pilot, diver, and linguist, but does not carry a gun. Regarded by his superiors as "reliable under torture", Quiller is often given dangerous disinformation missions where he is to be captured, tortured by the enemy, then reveal false information that will trick the other side into undermining their own scheme.

The series is very stylized, featuring intense depictions of spy tradecraft and professional relationships, surprising jump cuts between chapters, and deep, sometimes self-pitying interior monologues. The first of the Quiller novels, The Berlin Memorandum (1965) (retitled The Quiller Memorandum in the US) won an Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. It was filmed in 1966 under its US title with a screenplay by Harold Pinter and starred George Segal and Alec Guinness. It was also adapted into a 1975 British television series, featuring Michael Jayston.

As "Simon Rattray," he wrote mystery novels featuring Hugo Bishop, a brilliant man who, like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, solved crimes as a kind of mental challenge. The first Bishop novel, Knight Sinister, appeared in 1951; five more followed, the last appearing in 1957. (These have later been republished under the Adam Hall byline.) That Trevor could also be very effective in the straight, non-mystery genre is shown by The Billboard Madonna (1961): the protagonist accidentally kills a beautiful woman in a car crash, and is obsessively compelled to memorialize her.

Under the name "Adam Hall," he also wrote "The Volcanoes of San Domingo" about a mysterious plane crash off the coast of San Domingo and the efforts to uncover what really happened. When alerted by a report indicating that one of the crew members had been seen alive, "Rayner," an employee of the airline, is sent to investigate.

He also wrote children's books about the character "Wumpus", a koala bear, and his friends, including Flip Flap, the penguin. Titles included Wumpus (published 1945, by Gerald G. Swan), and More about Wumpus (published 1947). Other children's books include Scamper-Foot the Pine Marten, Ripple-Swim the Otter, and the Woodlander series (Deep Wood, Green Glade, Sweethallow Valley, Badger's Moon, Badger's Beech, Badger's Wood, Mole's Castle and Panic in the Woodland).

His book "The Big Pick-Up" was one of the stories on which the 1958 film Dunkirk was based.

Trevor also wrote radio plays for the BBC.[3]

Works

Quiller novels as by Adam Hall

Quiller short fiction as by Adam Hall

Non-Quiller novels as by Adam Hall

Also see:

Novels as by Mansell Black

Children's books as by Trevor Burgess

Novels as by Trevor Dudley-Smith

Children's books as by Trevor Dudley-Smith

Novel as by Roger Fitzalan

Novel as by Howard North

Novels as by Simon Rattray

Novels by Warwick Scott

Novel as by Caesar Smith

Novels as by Lesley Stone

Novels as by Elleston Trevor

Children's books as by Elleston Trevor

Stage plays as by Elleston Trevor

Radio plays as by Elleston Trevor

Short stories as by Elleston Trevor

Journalism as by Elleston Trevor

Other works as by Elleston Trevor

Unfilmed screenplays as by Elleston Trevor

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Reginald, Menville & Burgess 2010, p. 1105.
  2. ↑ East 1983, p. 138.
  3. ↑ Pendexter, Faunce (17 September 1955). "Between The BookEnds". Lewiston Evening Journal. p. 8A.
  4. ↑ anonymous (20 July 1962). "Radio Programs". Ottawa Citizen. p. 15.
  5. ↑ anonymous (9 August 1963). "Radio and Television Program Highlights for Coming Week". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. p. 4.
  6. ↑ The cited radio listings alternatively describe it as "a study in bureaucracy" and "a drama concerning a nuclear accident which causes a cloud that envelopes the earth. It is a satire on government and complacency about nuclear testing." Cast included Budd [sic] Knapp, Percy Rodriguez and Walter Massey."
  7. ↑ Reader's Digest 1964, p. 575.
  8. ↑ Gale's Contemporary Authors claims Elleston Trevor contributed to the scripts for the films Wings of Danger based on Trevor's own "Mansell Black" novel, and Woman of Straw though Trevor's son says that he has found no supporting evidence. Despite this the 1964 "Reader's Digest" abridged edition of The Flight of the Phoenix states in the "About the Author" blurb that Trevor has written the script for the Catherine Arley novel.

External links