Francis Durbridge
Francis Henry Durbridge was an influential English writer, born on November 25, 1912, in Hull, Yorkshire. Educated at Birmingham University, he transitioned from a brief career in stockbroking to become a full-time writer, marrying Norah Elizabeth Lawley in 1940. Durbridge is perhaps best known for his captivating radio and television series created for the BBC, which garnered massive audiences, especially in Europe, where his work was broadcast in over sixteen countries. His primary series characters, Paul Temple and his wife Steve, reflect a glamorous lifestyle and are reminiscent of classic detective duos. Durbridge also penned stage plays and novels, sometimes collaborating with others or using the pseudonym Lewis Middleton Harvey. His notable works include "Suddenly at Home," "Murder with Love," and the "Tim Frazer" series, featuring themes of international intrigue. Throughout his career, Durbridge contributed articles to various publications and served as an executive producer in television. He passed away on April 11, 1998, leaving behind a legacy in crime and mystery writing that continues to resonate.
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Francis Durbridge
Writer
- Born: November 25, 1912
- Birthplace: Hull, Yorkshire, England
- Died: April 11, 1998
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Francis Henry Durbridge was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, on November 25, 1912, the son of Francis and Gertrude Durbridge. He was educated at Birmingham University. In 1940, he married Norah Elizabeth Lawley; they had two sons. Durbridge became a full-time writer after briefly working in a stockbroker’s office. He published numerous novels alone and with collaborators and also wrote under the name Lewis Middleton Harvey. He was best known for his British Broadcasting Company (BBC) radio and television series, although he also wrote stage plays, including Suddenly at Home (1973), The Gentle Hook (1976), Murder with Love (1977), House Guest (1982), and Deadly Nightcap (1986). Marvin Carlson, in the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing (1999) views Durbridge’s series and stage plays as carrying on the traditions of Edgar Wallace and Agatha Christie. Durbridge’s primary series characters are Paul Temple and Temple’s wife Steve, who enjoy a glamorous life style reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett’s Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934). Durbridge’s first novel, Send for Paul Temple, written in collaboration with John Thewes, was created from his first Temple radio series. He collaborated on another Temple novel, derived from a play, with Charles Hatton in 1939: Paul Temple and the Front-Page Men. With James Douglas Rutherford McConnell, Durbridge wrote two novels that appeared as if written by Paul Temple: The Tyler Mystery (1957) and East of Algiers (1959). They collaborated on a number of nonseries novels, while Temple also appeared in films and a comic strip. Durbridge’s radio and television series attracted enormous audiences, especially in Europe; they were broadcast in more than sixteen countries and regularly attracted an audience of more than twenty-five million viewers in German speaking countries alone. Durbridge also collaborated on a number of screenplays with John Argyle, A.R. Rawlinson, and James Matthews. These include Calling Paul Temple (1948), Paul Temple Returns (1952), The Techman Mystery (1954), and The Vicious Circle (1957). In the 1960’s, Durbridge created a protagonist named Tim Frazer, a young engineer who appears in such works as The World of Tim Frazer (1962), Tim Frazer Again (1964), and Tim Frazer Gets the Message (1978); the Frazer works focus on international intrigue. From 1952 on, Durbridge was an executive producer in television. Durbridge contributed articles to a number of periodicals, including the London Daily Mail, The London Evening News, and Radio Times. He died in London on April 11, 1998.