Denis Nayland Smith is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

. He is a rival to the villain

Dr. Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comi ...

History

The character of Denis Nayland Smith was created in 1912 by

, in the short story ''The Zayat Kiss'', narrated by his friend Dr. Petrie. The short story was included in the

fix-up A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame s ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu ''The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu'' (1913) is the first novel in the Dr. Fu Manchu (sometimes "Fu-Manchu") series by Sax Rohmer. It collates various short stories that were published the preceding year. The novel was also published in the U.S. unde ...

''. In the first three books, Smith serves in the

Indian Imperial Police The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Imperial Police or simply the Indian Police or, by 1905, Imperial Police, was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British Raj, as established by ...

as a police commissioner in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

who has been granted a roving commission, allowing him to exercise authority over any official group who can help him in his mission. When Rohmer revived the series in 1931, Smith, who has been knighted for his efforts to defeat Fu Manchu, is an ex-Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard. Nayland Smith had an affair with his rival's daughter,

Fah Lo Suee Fah Lo Suee is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author Sax Rohmer (1883-1959). She is the daughter of Dr. Fu Manchu and an unnamed Russian woman, sometimes shown as an ally, sometimes shown as a ...

In other media

Comics

Denis Nayland Smith in The Mask Of Dr Fu Manchu

Nayland Smith was first brought to newspaper comic strips in a black and white daily

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

''Fu Manchu'' drawn by Leo O'Mealia (1884–1960) that ran from 1931 to 1933. The strips were adaptations of the first two Dr. Fu Manchu novels and part of the third. Nayland Smith made his first comic book appearance in ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

'' #17 and continued, as one feature among many in the anthology series, until #28. These were reprints of the earlier Leo O'Mealia strips. In 1943, the serial

Drums of Fu Manchu ''Drums of Fu Manchu'' (1940) is a 15-chapter Republic Pictures, Republic serial film based on the character created by Sax Rohmer. Though using the title of the ninth novel in the series, it actually is based on numerous elements from throughout ...

was adapted by Spanish comic artist José Grau Hernández in 1943. Nayland Smith appears in Avon's one-shot ''The Mask of Dr. Fu Manchu'' in 1951 by

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

. In the early 1970s, writer

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

and artist

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and ...

approached

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

to adapt the television series ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

'' into a comic book, as DC's parent company,

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, owned the rights to the series. DC Comics, however, was not interested in their pitch, believing the show's and the

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

genre popularity would phase out quickly. The duo then approached

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

with the idea to create a

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

-focused original comic. Editor-in-chief

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

agreed, but only if they would include the

's pulp villain

, as Marvel had previously acquired the comic book rights to the character. Englehart and Starlin developed

Shang-Chi Zheng Shang-Chi ( ), also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in '' ...

, a master of kung fu and a previously unknown son of

. In '' Master of Kung Fu'' #17 (

cover-dated The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unus ...

April 1974),

and

adapted the character for the series. After Marvel's license with the Rohmer estate expired, ''Master of Kung Fu'' was cancelled in 1983, Smith and Petrie have not appeared in any Marvel properties since the end of the Master of Kung Fu series in 1983.

Films

Fred Paul Fred Paul (1880–1967) was a Swiss-born British actor and film director. Paul was born in Lausanne in 1880 but moved to Britain at a young age. He was a prolific actor and director in the 1910s and 1920s, but his career dramatically declined with ...

played Nayland Smith in ''The Mystery of Dr Fu-Manchu'' (1923) and ''The Further Mysteries of Dr Fu-Manchu'' (1924). *

O. P. Heggie Oliver Peters Heggie ( Otto Peters Heggie; 17 September 1877 – 7 February 1936), billed as O. P. Heggie, was an Australian film and theatre actor best known for portraying the hermit who befriends the Monster in the film ''Bride of Frankenstei ...

played Nayland Smith in the films '' The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1929) and '' The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1930) *

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular '' Andy ...

played Nayland Smith in film ''

The Mask of Fu Manchu ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) is an American pre-Code adventure film directed by Charles Brabin. Written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard, it was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Sax Rohmer (the sixth in the serie ...

'' (1932) * William Royle played Nayland Smith in film serial ''

'' (1940) *

Nigel Green Nigel McGown Green (15 October 192415 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height () and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s ...

played Nayland Smith ''

The Face of Fu Manchu ''The Face of Fu Manchu'' is a 1965 thriller film directed by Don Sharp and based on the characters created by Sax Rohmer. It stars Christopher Lee as the eponymous villain, a Chinese criminal mastermind, and Nigel Green as his pursuing rival N ...

'' (1965) *

Douglas Wilmer Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''. Early life Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at King' ...

played Nayland Smith ''

The Brides of Fu Manchu ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' is a 1966 British/West German Constantin Film co-production adventure crime film based on the fictional Chinese villain Dr. Fu Manchu, created by Sax Rohmer. It was the second film in a series, and was preceded by ...

'' (1966) and ''

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' is a 1967 British crime thriller adventure film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Christopher Lee, Horst Frank, Douglas Wilmer and Tsai Chin. It was the third British/West German Constantin Film co-productio ...

'' (1967) *

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series '' ...

played Nayland Smith ''

The Blood of Fu Manchu ''The Blood of Fu Manchu'' (german: Der Todeskuss des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit=The Death-Kiss of Dr. Fu Manchu, es, Fu-Manchú y el beso de la muerte), also known as ''Kiss of Death'', ''Kiss and Kill'' (U.S. title) and ''Against All Odds'' (orig ...

'' (1968) and ''

The Castle of Fu Manchu ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'' (german: Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit=The Torture Chamber of Dr. Fu Manchu, es, El castillo de Fu-Manchu) is a 1969 film and the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the ti ...

'' (1969) *

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

played Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu in ''

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu ''The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a 1980 comedy film. It was the final film featuring star Peter Sellers and David Tomlinson. Based on characters created by Sax Rohmer, the film stars Sellers in the dual role of Fu Manchu, a megalomaniac ...

'' (1980)

Television

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

played Nayland Smith ''Fu Manchu: The Zayat Kiss'' (1952) *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews pla ...

played Nayland Smith in ''

The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu ''The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a syndicated American television series that aired in 1956. The show was produced by Hollywood Television Service, a subsidiary of Republic Pictures. Cast and characters * Glen Gordon as Dr. Fu Manchu * ...

'' (1956) television series

Radio

Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''The Baby Snooks Show''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers ...

played Nayland Smith in ''

The Shadow of Fu Manchu ''The Shadow of Fu Manchu'' is an adventure radio drama adapted from the first nine Fu Manchu novels by Sax Rohmer. The syndicated series aired from 1939 to 1940 in 15-minute installments. Characters and story Fu Manchu (Harold Huber) was a diabo ...

'' (1939–1940).

References

External links

*
Denis Nayland Smith
at Comic Vine *
ir Denis Nayland Smith
at Marvel.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nayland Smith, Dennis Male characters in literature Male characters in film Fictional British secret agents Characters in British novels of the 20th century Characters in British novels of the 21st century Characters in pulp fiction Film serial characters Literary characters introduced in 1912 Fu Manchu