The Saint's Blog devoted to news and rumors about The Saint and Leslie Charteris. Simon Templar, alias The Saint, was played by Roger Moore in the 1960's TV show featuring the Volvo 1800.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Rossall School Celebrates 100th Birthday of Leslie Charteris

Rossall School in England has created a special page commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the birth of one of Rossall's most famous former pupils: Leslie Charteris, the creator of the Saint.
12th May 2007 marks the 100th anniversay of the birth of Leslie Charteris, one of our famous former pupils.

Leslie Charters was a hugely successful and popular writer from the 1930s almost to the end of the twentieth century. He is often credited with inspiring Ian Fleming in the creation of James Bond.

Born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin to a Chinese father and an English mother. His father was a physician who claimed to be able to trace his lineage back to the emperors of the Shang Dynasty. Hebecame interested in writing at an early age, at one point creating his own magazine with articles, short stories, poetry, editorials, serials, and even a comic strip.

Of course, he is best known for his creation of Simon Templar, "The Saint" who appeared in almost one hundred novels and the well-know TV series of the 1960s, and 70s. Played most famously by Roger Moore, Simon Templar is known as the Saint because of his initials (ST), and also because of his heroic adventures that fly in the face of an otherwise dubious reputation, giving him the reputation of a type of "Robin Hood" who uses questionable methods to "right wrongs".

Templar uses a number of aliases, often using the initials S.T. and often leaves a card behind showing a stick-man drawing of a man with a halo, which is the logo of both the books and TV series.
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Labels: 2007, Leslie Charteris, Rossall School