New Leslie Charteris Biography – The Saint I Ain’t with Ian Dickerson

Leslie Charteris

On Episode 94 of the Spybrary Podcast, host Shane Whaley interviews Ian Dickerson, the author of The Saint I Ain't – a biography of Leslie Charteris.

In this episode, we cover aspects of Leslie Charteris's life as well as a fan's discussion about Simon Templar, aka The Saint.

We chat about The Saint Books, The Saint Movies including the latest reboot Saint movie which was co-produced by Ian Dickerson and starred Adam Rayner. We run the rule over the various actors who have played Simon Templar since the 1930s.

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As a kid and young teenager, I loved to read The Saint books, they were a fantastic escape from the real world. Regular listeners know I am a huge Roger Moore fan, so of course, I enjoyed Sir Roger's portrayal of The Saint and I had a soft spot for Ian Ogilvy's Saint.

Yet, I knew very little about the Saint creator Leslie Charteris, so on this episode, Ian Dickerson gives us some background on Leslie Charteris's life with some interesting anecdotes.

At the time of posting, Ian's biography of Leslie Charteris is available for pre-order. This chat with Ian whetted my appetite and I immediately ordered my copy, a nice Christmas present for myself.

NOTE – OK technically Simon Templar is not a spy, nor are the books spy fiction but they are held in great regard by many Spybrarians.

The story of Leslie Charteris ‐‐creator of The Saint. The Saint I Ain't by Ian Dickerson

This is the story of an author who created a legend, whose stories have sold in excess of forty million books around the world and been translated into over thirty languages. An author who created a hero before his twenty‐first birthday and spent the rest of his long life writing about him.

Whose life closely mirrored that of his fictional creation and whose books were a product of his life as much as his life was a product of his books. Who exploited his creation to the maximum effect while maintaining strict controls over how his character was interpreted. Who had circumnavigated the globe three times before the age of twelve, and travelled the world extensively, but would never in his life set foot in a communist country, even when there were generous royalty cheques awaiting him there.

This is the story of Leslie Charteris ‐‐ creator of The Saint.

Author: Ian Dickerson

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Links and Resources Mentioned in this episode with Ian Dickerson author of The Saint I Ain't.

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