Alfred Edgar Frederick Higgs (12 August 1896 – 23 October 1972), who wrote under the name Barré Lyndon, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

playwright and screenwriter. Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Lyndon may be best remembered for his stage play '' The Man in Half Moon Street'', which opened at London's New Theatre on 22 March 1939 and ran for 172 performances, starring Leslie Banks, Malcolm Keen and Ann Todd,''Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection: An Annotated Repertoire'' by Amnon Kabatchnik, 2009 as well as for three screenplays from the 1940s: '' The Lodger'' (1944), '' Hangover Square'' (1945) and '' The Man in Half Moon Street'' (1945). The last was remade by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

in 1959 as '' The Man Who Could Cheat Death''. Lyndon began his writing career as a journalist, particularly about motor-racing, and short-story writer before becoming a playwright. His first play, '' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'', was made into an Edward G. Robinson film in 1939. After that success, Lyndon moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in 1941, to concentrate on writing for films full-time. He was naturalised as a United States citizen in the United States District Court in Los Angeles as Alfred Edgar Barre Lyndon in 1952. He had two sons, Roger Alvin Edgar (b. England, 1924) and Barry Davis Edgar (b. England, 1929).

Partial filmography

*'' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'', directed by

Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (10 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), commonly known as Anatole Litvak, was a Russian-American filmmaker. Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, he began his theatrical training at age 13 in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, ...

(1938, based on the play '' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'') *'' They Came by Night'', directed by

Harry Lachman Harry B. Lachman (June 29, 1886 – March 19, 1975) was an American artist, set designer, and film director. He was born in La Salle, Illinois on June 29, 1886. Lachman was educated at the University of Michigan before becoming a magazine and b ...

(UK, 1940, based on the play ''They Came by Night'') *'' The Man in Half Moon Street'', directed by

Ralph Murphy Ralph Murphy (May 1, 1895 – February 10, 1967) was an American film and television director. Born in Rockville, Connecticut, Murphy was active in films from 1931 through 1962, with some work in television. From 1941 to 1944 he was married to G ...

(1945, based on the play '' The Man in Half Moon Street'') *'' The Man Who Could Cheat Death'', directed by

Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explic ...

(UK, 1959, based on the play ''The Man in Half Moon Street'')

Screenwriter

*'' Sundown'', directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Western (genre), Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven f ...

(1941) *'' The Lodger'', directed by

John Brahm John Brahm (August 17, 1893 – October 12, 1982) was a German film and television director. His films include ''The Undying Monster'' (1942), ''The Lodger (1944 film), The Lodger'' (1944), ''Hangover Square (film), Hangover Square'' (1945), ''Th ...

(1944, based on the novel '' The Lodger'' by

Marie Belloc Lowndes Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes (née Belloc; 5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), who wrote as Marie Belloc Lowndes, was a prolific English novelist, and sister of author Hilaire Belloc. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a re ...

) *'' Hangover Square'', directed by

(1945, based on the novel '' Hangover Square'' by Patrick Hamilton) *''

The House on 92nd Street ''The House on 92nd Street'' is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. ''The House on 92nd Street'' was made with the full ...

'', directed by

(1945) *'' Night Has a Thousand Eyes'', directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nomina ...

(1948, based on the novel ''Night Has a Thousand Eyes'' by

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich the ...

) *'' To Please a Lady'', directed by

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when h ...

(1950) *'' The Greatest Show on Earth'', directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

(1952) *''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'', directed by

Byron Haskin Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing '' The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he ...

(1953, based on the novel ''

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

) *'' Man in the Attic'', directed by

Hugo Fregonese Hugo Geronimo Fregonese (8 April 1908 – 11 January 1987) was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, classical era of Argentine cinema.''Cine Na ...

(1953, based on the novel '' The Lodger'' by

) *'' Sign of the Pagan'', directed by

Douglas Sirk Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. However, he also directed comedies, westerns, and war f ...

(1954) *''

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) (Persian language, Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar ...

'', directed by

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...

(1957) *'' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'', directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (1961, based on the novel ''The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' by John Fox Jr.) *'' Dark Intruder'', directed by Harvey Hart (1965)

Partial bibliography

* London: Harrap *Barré Lyndon (1932). ''The Luck of the Game Again''. UK: The MG Car Company *— (1933). ''Combat: A Motor Racing History.'' London: Heinemann *— (1934). ''Circuit Dust.'' London: John Miles * — (1935). ''Grand Prix''. London: John Miles * London:

Batsford Batsford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyndon, Barre English dramatists and playwrights English male screenwriters Edgar Award winners Writers from London 1896 births 1972 deaths English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Authors of Sexton Blake Hugo Award–winning writers 20th-century English screenwriters