Les Roberts (born July 18, 1937) is an American screenwriter and mystery novelist.

Biography

Roberts was born Lester Roubert, to Lester Nathaniel and Eleanor (Bauch) Roubert in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

; he changed his name to Roberts in 1968. Roberts attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

at Champaign-Urbana and

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

(1954–1956), served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

(1960–1962), and married Gail Medland in 1957; they divorced in 1980. Roberts has two children, Valerie Lynne and Darren Jon, one grandchild, Shea Holland Thompson. He currently lives in Stow, Ohio.

Social views

Roberts became a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

c. 2012 after watching 'Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home' stating:

Writing career

Roberts began his career as a contemporary American mystery novelist after twenty-four years in Hollywood, having written and/or produced more than 2,500 half-hour segments of network and syndicated television. He was the first producer and head writer of ''

The Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

'', and has written for ''

The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to '' I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distin ...

'', ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'' and ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', among others. Roberts is primarily seen as a regional writer. Though his Saxon series is set in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, he is best known for his Milan Jacovich series set in his adopted hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Jacovich, unlike many single, dashing private eyes of fiction, is a battered, Stroh's-drinking, polka-dancing

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

American Vietnam veteran, ex-cop, and former Kent State football star, with a Serbian strong-willed ex-wife and two sons that he sees every other Sunday. Jacovich's working-guy attitude has endeared him to many Cleveland readers. He is past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and the regular mystery book critic for ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''. He has been a professional actor, singer, businessman, teacher and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician.

Bibliography

The Saxon series

* ''An Infinite Number Of Monkeys'' (1987 ) * ''Not Enough Horses'' (1988 ) * ''A Carrot For The Donkey'' (1989 ) * ''Snake Oil'' (1990 ) * ''Seeing The Elephant'' (1992 ) * ''The Lemon Chicken Jones'' (1994 )

The Milan Jacovich series

* ''Pepper Pike'' (1988: ) * ''Full Cleveland'' (1989 ) * ''Deep Shaker'' (1991 ) * ''The Cleveland Connection'' (1993 ) * ''The Lake Effect'' (1994 ) * ''The Duke Of Cleveland'' (1995 ) * ''Collision Bend'' (1996 ) * ''The Cleveland Local'' (1997 ) * ''A Shoot In Cleveland'' (1998 ) * ''The Best-Kept Secret'' (1999 ) * ''The Indian Sign'' (2000 ) * ''The Dutch'' (2001 ) * ''The Irish Sports Pages'' (2002 ) * ''King of the Holly Hop'' (2008 ) * ''The Cleveland Creep'' (2011 ) * ''Whiskey Island'' (2012 ) * ''Win, Place, or Die'' (with co-author Dan S. Kennedy) (2013 ) * ''The Ashtabula Hat Trick'' (2015 ) * ''Speaking of Murder'' (with co-author Dan S. Kennedy) (2016 )

Other

* ''A Carol for Cleveland'' (1991 ) * ''The Chinese Fire Drill'' (2001 ) * ''The Scent of Spiced Oranges and Other Stories'' (2002 ) * ''We'll Always Have Cleveland'' (2006 ) * ''The Strange Death of Father Candy (Dominick Candiotti #1)'' (2011 ) * ''Wet Work (Dominick Candiotti #2)'' (2014 ) * ''Sheehan's Dog'' (2022 )

Awards

In 1986 he won the inaugural "Best First Private Eye Novel Contest" for ''An Infinite Number of Monkeys'' in 1986. This novel was also nominated for the

1988 Anthony Award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

for "Best First Novel" and the

Shamus Award The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one ...

the same year in the same category. The following year, the initial novel in the Milan Jacovich series was nominated for the

1989 Anthony Award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

in the "Best Novel" category. Next, Roberts also won the 1992 Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature and has been voted "Cleveland's Favorite Author" by Cleveland.com. The novel ''The Lake Effect'' was nominated for the 1995 Shamus Award in the "Best Private Eye Novel" category.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Les American television writers American male television writers American mystery writers 1937 births Living people Writers from Cleveland American male novelists American male screenwriters Novelists from Ohio Screenwriters from Ohio