John Kruse (1921–2004) was an English film and television

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. He is mostly remembered for his work on ITC classic TV series ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', as well as several films of the franchise, and as the author of the best-selling novel ''Red Omega''.

Life

John Kruse was born in England and educated at Harrow. His father, Jack Frederick Conrad Kruse, was a captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and close associate of tycoon

Lord Rothermere Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in th ...

, founder of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. A wealthy couple, Kruse's parents lived between

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

, but the

1929 Crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

greatly damaged their fortune.Jim Wilson, ''Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe'', The History Press, 2011 During

World War II 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 opposin ...

, John served as a liaison officer in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After the war, he returned to England to find his home bombed, his parents dead, and no family business. At the age of twenty-six, he began a new career from scratch. He joined

Pinewood Film Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

as a

clapper boy Clapper or Clappers may refer to: Miscellaneous *Clapper, part of a bell *Clapper (musical instrument), consisting of two pieces of wood struck together *Clapper bridge, an ancient form of bridge * Clapper Post, urban postal service of Vienna (XV ...

and, during the next seven years, progressed to become

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...

, at the same time working nights to perfect his writing. His short stories began to appear in magazines in Britain and the United States in the early fifties; some of these stories were later developed into screenplays. ''

Hell Drivers ''Hell Drivers'' (1957) is a British film noir crime drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins and Patrick McGoohan. The film was produced by the Rank Organisation and Aqua Film Productions. The f ...

'' (1957) was his first credited film, based on his own short story and co-scripted with director

Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American screenwriter, director, author, magician and inventor. Having been named as a Communist at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing and subsequently blacklisted ...

. By 1954 Kruse had switched to full-time scriptwriting, working in over a dozen of films. Starting in the 1960s, he also wrote many hundreds of episodes for British and international TV shows, including '' The Avengers'', ''

Shoestring Shoelaces, also called shoestrings (US English) or bootlaces (UK English), are a system commonly used to secure shoes, boots, and other footwear. They typically consist of a pair of strings or cords, one for each shoe, finished off at both ends ...

'', ''

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the c ...

'', ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure serie ...

'', and most famously ''

'', starring

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

. In 1981, Kruse abandoned screenwriting and moved to

Almuñécar Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea and borders the Granadin municipalities of O ...

, in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, Spain, where he began a new career as a novelist. He published three novels. The first one, ''Red Omega'' (1981), became a best-seller—a

cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

spy thriller involving a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

plot to murder

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

using a rogue agent from

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

who survived the

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

s. It was later followed by a sequel, ''Long Live the Dead'', and ''Hour of the Lily'', an epic story of love and war in Russian-occupied Afghanistan. After these three novels, Kruse took up

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. He died in Almuñécar in 2004.

Work

Television credits

* ''

ITV Television Playhouse ''ITV Television Playhouse'', often simplified to ''Television Playhouse'', was a British anthology television series produced by and airing on the ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, ...

'' * '' Lilli Palmer Theatre'' * ''

Assignment Foreign Legion ''Assignment Foreign Legion'' is an American TV series made in Britain that ran for 26 episodes from 1956 to 1957. It was hosted by Merle Oberon and financed by CBS. Directors included Don Chaffey, Michael McCarthy and Lance Comfort. Premise A fe ...

'' * ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canadi ...

'' * ''

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

'' * '' Knight Errand Limited'' * ''

Interpol Calling ''Interpol Calling'' was a 1959 Rank Organisation and Jack Wrather Productions British television crime drama series for ITC Entertainment. The programme, which ran for one series of 39 half-hour monochrome episodes, followed the adventures of ...

'' * '' Adventures in Paradise'' * '' The Avengers'' * ''

Top Secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...

'' * '' Zero One'' * '' The Human Jungle'' * ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' (1957–1958) an ...

'' * '' Undermind'' * ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), ...

'' * ''

The Man in Room 17 ''The Man in Room 17'' is a British television series which ran for two series in the mid-1960s, produced by the northern weekday ITV franchise, Granada Television. Key to the series' success was the involvement of writer/producer Robin Chap ...

'' * ''

Strange Report ''Strange Report'' is a British television crime drama series starring Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and first broadcast in 1969 on ITV In the United States, NBC broadcast ''Strange Report'' between 8 Jan ...

'' * ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series to exclusively use live actors as opposed to marionettes (following ''UFO''), and his second to be firmly set in ...

'' * ''

The Zoo Gang ''The Zoo Gang'' is a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico. Plot Five French Resistance fighters, known by their animal-based code names (the Wo ...

'' * ''

Return of the Saint ''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian bro ...

'' * ''

The Professionals A professional is someone who is skilled in a profession. Professional or professionals may also refer to: * Professional sports Music *The Professionals (band), a British punk rock band formed in 1979 * ''The Professionals'' (The Professionals ...

Film credits

* ''

'' (1957) * '' Sea Fury'' (1958) * '' October Moth'' (also director; 1960) * ''

Echo of Barbara ''Echo of Barbara'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by Sidney Hayers, and based on a novel of the same title by Jonathan Burke. It concerns Soho stripper Paula, who poses as Barbara, the missing sister of crooked Sam Roscoe, hoping to unco ...

'' (1961) * '' The Fiction Makers'' (1968) * '' Crossplot'' (1969) * ''

Vendetta for the Saint ''Vendetta for the Saint'' is a 1964 mystery novel featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". ''Vendetta for the Saint'' was the first full-length Saint novel published since ''The Saint Sees it Through'', 18 years earlier. A te ...

'' (1970) * ''

Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

'' (1971) * ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'' (1971) * '' Mission: Monte Carlo'' (1974) * '' The Saint and the Brave Goose'' (1979)

Novels

* ''Red Omega'' (1981) * ''Long Live the Dead'' * ''Hour of the Lily'' (1984)

References

Sources

*John Kruse, ''Red Omega''. Pocket Books, 1981.
Biography on Amazon

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruse, John 20th-century British novelists British television writers British male screenwriters 1921 births 2004 deaths People educated at Harrow School British mystery writers British male novelists 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters