Edgar Marcus Lustgarten (3 May 1907 – 15 December 1978) was a British broadcaster and noted

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

Biography

Born in the Broughton Park area of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

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, he was the son of Joseph and Sara (née Finklestein) Lustgarten. His father was a Romanian-Jewish barrister. Lustgarten was educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a free grammar school next to Manchester Parish Church, it moved in 1931 to its present site a ...

and St John's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was President of the

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for the

Hilary term Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordManchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. She came from a family of jewellers. She died in 1972. There was no issue. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he was medically unfit for active service but worked in Radio Counter-Propaganda (1940–45), under the name of 'Brent Wood'. He was a BBC staff producer, 1945–48, and organiser of the BBC television programme ''In the News'' (1950–54) and of the ATV programme ''Free Speech'' (1955–61). His books included crime fiction but most were accounts of true criminal cases. The legal justice system and courtroom procedures were his main interests and his writings reflect this. He also wrote numerous articles for newspapers and presented the radio series ''Advocate Extraordinary''. He used to say that he had no schedules, writing everywhere any time, on bars, in cars, and while walking in the streets.

Legacy

He is remembered for hosting the series of British film shorts ''

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

'' (1953–61) and '' The Scales of Justice'' (1962–67), filmed at

Merton Park Studios Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269 Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild. Peter Mo ...

, London, SW19. Initially released as supporting films in UK cinemas, ''Scotland Yard'' was broadcast beginning on 17 November 1957, by the

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in the United States. His novel ''Game For Three Losers'' was filmed as an episode of Merton Park's '' Edgar Wallace Mysteries''. Lustgarten died at the

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while reading ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

''. In the decade following his death, Lustgarten briefly ascended into the realm of pop culture when his inimitable voice was heard in dance music. Samples of him reading from "Death on the Crumbles" were used in the Australian band Severed Heads' 1984 hit song " Dead Eyes Opened". His works are still used as introductory readings in several law schools in different countries because of their accuracy on the atmosphere of trials and attorneys' behaviour. He was mimicked as the Narrator in ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 Musical film, musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman an ...

''. In October 2012, his film work made its debut on DVD when Network released the complete series of ''The Scales of Justice'' as a two-disc set. ''Scotland Yard'' was released by Network DVD in 2014 as a seven-disc set.

Publications

Crime novels * ''A Case to Answer'' (1947) * ''Blondie Iscariot'' (1948) * ''Game for Three Losers'' (1952) * ''I'll Never Leave You'' (1971) * ''Turn the Light Out as You Go'' (1978) True crime * ''Verdict in Dispute'' (1949) * ''Defender's Triumph'' (1951) * ''The Woman in the Case'' (1955) * ''The Murder and the Trial'' (1958) * ''The Business of Murder'' (1968) * ''The Chalk Pit Murder'' (1975) * '' A Century of Murderers'' (1975) * ''The Illustrated Story of Crime'' (1976)

References

External sources

* ''Who Was Who'', vol. 7, 1971–80, London : A. & C. Black, 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lustgarten, Edgar 1907 births 1978 deaths 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English novelists English crime fiction writers English crime writers People from Salford English Jews English people of Latvian-Jewish descent People educated at Manchester Grammar School Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association English male journalists BBC people British broadcasters British male novelists 20th-century English male writers Presidents of the Oxford Union