Ted Lewis (15 January 1940 – 27 March 1982) was a British writer known for his

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

Early life

Alfred Edward Lewis was born in Stretford,

Manchester 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 t ...

and was an only child. After 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 ...

the family moved to

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. He had a strict upbringing and his parents did not want their son to go to art school, but his English teacher Henry Treece, recognising his creative talents in writing and art, persuaded them not to stand in his way. Lewis attended Hull Art School for four years.

Career

Lewis's first work was in London, in advertising, and then as an animation specialist in television and films (among them the Beatles' '' Yellow Submarine''). His first novel, '' All the Way Home and All the Night Through'', was published in 1965, followed by ''

Jack's Return Home ''Jack's Return Home'' is a 1970 novel by British writer Ted Lewis. It was adapted into the 1971 film ''Get Carter'', starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter. The novel portrays a subsection of society living on the borderline between crime and r ...

'', which created the noir school of British crime writing and pushed Lewis into the best-seller list. The novel was later retitled ''Get Carter'' after the success of the film of the same name, based on the novel and starring

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

. After the collapse of his marriage Lewis returned to his home town. Lewis wrote several episodes for the television series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

''. Producer Graham Williams of '' Doctor Who'' , who had worked with Lewis on ''Z-Cars'', commissioned a script entitled ''The Doppelgangers'' in 1978 from Lewis. However, the script was rejected early the next year, and was never put into production.. Lewis's final book, assessed as his best by some critics, was ''GBH'', published in 1980, the title referring to grievous bodily harm in British law. Lewis died in 1982 aged 42 of alcohol-related causes. In October 2017 Nick Triplow published a detailed biography ''Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir''. In 2020 The Ted Lewis Centre opened in

Barton upon Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is so ...

celebrating his life and works.

Books

* ''All the Way Home and All the Night Through'' (1965) * ''

'' (1970) (paperback published in 1971 as ''Carter''. Later re-published as ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detecti ...

'') * ''Plender'' (1971) * ''Billy Rags'' (1973) * '' Jack Carter's Law'' (1974) * ''The Rabbit'' (1975) * ''Boldt'' (1976) * ''Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon'' (1977) * ''GBH'' (1980)

Films

* ''

'' has been filmed three times: ** ''

'' (1971) with

** ''

Hit Man Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

'' (1972) with

Bernie Casey Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American actor, poet and professional American football player. Early life Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, the son of Flossie (Coleman) and Frank Leslie Casey. He graduated ...

and

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distinc ...

** ''

'' (2000) with Sylvester Stallone * ''Plender'' has been adapted as a French film: ** '' Le Serpent'' (2007) directed by Eric Barbier

References

External links