John Creasey MBE was an English crime and science fiction writer who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty eight different pseudonyms.
He created several characters which are now famous, such as The Toff, Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, Inspector Roger West, The Baron, and Doctor Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey.
The most popular of these was Gideon of Scotland Yard, who was the basis for the television series Gideon’s Way and for the John Ford movie Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958), also known by its British title Gideon’s Day. The Baron character was made into a 1960s TV series starring Steve Forrest as The Baron.
In 1953, John Creasey founded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) in the UK. The CWA New Blood Dagger is awarded in his memory, for first books by previously unpublished writers; sponsored by BBC Audiobooks, it includes a prize of £1000. This award was known previously as the John Creasey Memorial Dagger.
