- Born
- Died
- Birth nameTrevor-Dudley Smith
- Elleston Trevor was born on February 17, 1920 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Quiller Memorandum (1966), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and Dunkirk (1958). He was married to Chaille Anne Groom and Jonquil Burgess. He died on July 21, 1995 in Cave Creek, Arizona, USA.
- SpousesChaille Anne Groom(1987 - July 21, 1995) (his death)Jonquil Burgess(1947 - 1986) (her death, 1 child)
- Legally changed his name to Elleston Trevor.
- Dictated the last chapters of his final novel, "Quiller Balalaika", while lying on his death bed. He passed away three days after the book's completion.
- Elleston Trevor (Adam Hall) was born Trevor-Dudley Smith in Bromley, Kent. He was educated at Yardley Court Preparatory School and Sevenoaks School (1932-1938). Upon leaving school, he was apprenticed as a racing driver, but when World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force, serving as a flight engineer.
- Began studying shotokan karate at the age of 58 in order to give his "Quiller" novels more authenticity.
- Employed the pseudonyms Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, T. Dudley-Smith, Roger Fitzalan, Adam Hall, Howard North, Simon Rattray, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith, and Lesley Stone.
- [om George Segal, who played the character Quiller on film] Segal is a fine romantic actor but is certainly not Quiller . . . He doesn't look harrowed enough. He doesn't look weathered enough. [Humphrey Bogart], had he been the right age at the right time, would have been perfect.
- We don't live nearly enough spiritually, and I'm not talking about religion. I don't have a religion. But I happen to know that the atoms of my body were inside the Big Bang. My religion, if I ever had one, was that I am a part of the cosmos. And therefore I feel that if I can turn the key or open the door, or whatever you want to call it, I can tap the energy of the cosmos. And we all can.
- [on studying martial arts] I know myself better. I know other people better. There's nothing quite like karate to reveal character. I always said that I can tell what a man is like by the way he drives a car. Now I can tell by the way he walks into the dojo.
- [on the screen versions of his popular character, Quiller] He's so difficult to film, realistically. They give him a gun, they give him a blonde. I think the film people are absolutely afraid of Quiller. If they shoot him as he is, they're afraid that nobody's going to be interested.
- It all began officially, I suppose when the Lord told Moses to "spy out the land of Canaan." That was the briefing.
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