Edward Percy Smith (5 January 1891 – 25 May 1968) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the United Kingdom and a playwright under the name Edward Percy.

Biography

Born in

Wandsworth, London Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its n ...

, he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Ashford at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 1943, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1950 general election. Under the name Edward Percy, he was a popular playwright. His plays included ''

The Shop at Sly Corner ''Code of Scotland Yard'' is a 1947 British crime film directed by George King and starring Oskar Homolka, Muriel Pavlow and Derek Farr. It was originally released as ''The Shop at Sly Corner'', being based on the popular stage play of that t ...

'' and, with

Reginald Denham Reginald Denham (10 January 1894 – 4 February 1983) was an English writer, theatre and film director, actor and film producer. Biography Reginald H. F. Denham was born in London, England, in 1894. He spent a good part of his career dire ...

, ''

Ladies in Retirement ''Ladies in Retirement'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward, who were married at the time. It is based on a 1940 Broadway play of the same title by Reginald Denham and Edward Percy t ...

''. He also worked occasionally in television and film, including contributing to the screenplay for the 1960

Hammer horror 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 fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...

film ''

The Brides of Dracula ''The Brides of Dracula'' is a 1960 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, David Peel, Freda Jackson, Yvonne Monlaur, Andrée Melly, and Martita Hunt. ...

''. He died in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

aged 77. Smith has earned mild infamy among biologists for releasing 12 specimens of the

marsh frog The marsh frog (''Pelophylax ridibundus'') is a species of water frog native to Europe and parts of western Asia. Description The marsh frog is the largest type of frog in most of its range, with males growing to a size around 100 mm (3.9 ...

in his garden at Stone-in-Oxney, Kent, during the winter of 1934–5. These escaped into a nearby mere, before steadily spreading. Today, it is regarded as an invasive species which eats the tadpoles of the

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...

and which it widely succeeds.

Selected plays

* '' The Last Straw'' (1937) * ''

'' (1945)

References

* *

External links

* * 1891 births 1968 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1890s-stub