Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

and independent

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and

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. ...

. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties. Towers was married to the actress Maria Rohm, who appeared in many of his films.

Background

The son of a theatrical agent, Towers was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, and became a child actor after attending the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

. He then became a prolific radio writer while serving in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during World War II becoming head of the RAF radio unit on the

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

attaining the rank of

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

. In 1946, he and his mother Margaret Miller Towers started a company called Towers of London that sold various syndicated radio shows around the world, including '' The Lives of Harry Lime'' and ''

The Black Museum ''The Black Museum'' is a radio crime-drama program produced by Harry Alan Towers, which was broadcast in the USA on the Mutual network in 1952. It was then broadcast in Europe in 1953 on Radio Luxembourg, a commercial radio station, and was not ...

'' with

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, ''Secrets of Scotland Yard'' with Clive Brook, ''Horatio Hornblower'' in which

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

played the famous

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

created by C. S. Forester, and a series based on the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

stories, featuring

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

as Holmes,

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

, and Orson Welles as

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle coul ...

. Based on his radio success, in the mid-1950s he produced television shows for ITV such as '' Armchair Theatre'', ''The Golden Fleece'', ''The Boy About the Place'', ''Teddy Gang'', ''The Lady Asks for Help'', '' The Scarlet Pimpernel'', ''The Suicide Club'', ''The Little Black Book'', ''The New Adventures of Martin Kane'', ''A Christmas Carol'', ''24 Hours a Day'', ''Down to the Sea'', ''Gun Rule'', and many others. On 7 April 1956, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' magazine announced J. Elroy McCaw's WINS in New York made a deal with Harry Alan Towers for deejay

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

to do a special taped 1/2-hour rock 'n' roll record show on Saturday nights over Radio Luxembourg, which beamed to most of the countries of Free Europe.

Vice activities

In 1961 Towers, with girlfriend Mariella Novotny, was charged with operating a

vice ring A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...

at a New York hotel, but he jumped bail and returned to Europe.Cy Youn
"Harry Alan Towers: Prolific radio, television and film producer and screenwriter"
''The Independent'', 4 November 2009 Novotny, in her statement to the FBI, claimed Towers was a Soviet agent responsible for providing compromising information on individuals for the benefit of the U.S.S.R. '' Lobster Magazine'' ran an article in 1983 Ronald Berganbr>Harry Alan Towers Obituary
''The Guardian'', 1 October 2009 citing sources who alleged Towers was linked with (among others) Stephen Ward,

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, and a vice ring at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

. Hearst Corporation newspapers had already mentioned Towers's name in a 1963 article featuring coded references to a liaison between a pre-White House John F. Kennedy and Novotny, a known prostitute. The charges against Towers were dropped in 1980 after he paid a £4,200 fine for jumping bail.

Film career

Towers began producing feature films in 1962, sometimes writing the screenplay. Towers filmed in various countries such as South Africa, Ireland, Hong Kong, Bulgaria and others. A number of his films and scripts were based on the works of Sax Rohmer, such as ''

Sumuru Sumuru is a female supervillain created by Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series of novels. She first appeared in a 1945-1946 BBC radio serial, which was rewritten as a novel in 1950. Four more novels were published between 1951 and 1956. T ...

'' and the popular ''

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, co ...

'' series of five films starring

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...

. He also adapted the novels of

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...

(''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, a ...

'' and the Miss Marple series), the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusati ...

, and the works of

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

. Towers produced three separate film versions of ''

'', each set in a different locale. He frequently collaborated with director

Jesus Franco Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Towers had a hand in writing and/or producing numerous films directed by Franco, including '' 99 Women'' (1969), '' The Girl from Rio'' a.k.a. ''Rio 70'' (1969), '' Venus in Furs'' (1969), '' Marquis de Sade: Justine'' (1969), ''

Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into Perversion ''Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into Perversion'' is a 1970 British sexploitation horror film directed by Jesús Franco, and starring Maria Rohm, Marie Liljedahl, Jack Taylor, and Christopher Lee. A modern-day adaptation of the Marquis ...

'' (1970), '' The Bloody Judge'' (1970), and ''

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

'' (1970). Franco also helmed the last two Fu Manchu films ''

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 tit ...

'' (1969).

Death

In a letter from the New York literary agency Albert T Longden Associates, discussing the Sax Rohmer estate, reference was made to Towers producing a sixth Fu Manchu movie, ''The Children of Fu Manchu'', for release in 2009; if the project existed, nothing came of it. In his last months, Towers was working with

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

on an adaptation of ''

Moll Flanders ''Moll Flanders'' is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, wi ...

''. He died after a short illness in a hospital in Canada on 31 July 2009.

Filmography

References

External links

*
"Harry Alan Towers: film impresario"
''The Times'', 5 August 2009 * *Jason Nissa

''Independent on Sunday'', 3 November 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Towers, Harry Alan English film producers English radio producers English male screenwriters Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 1920 births 2009 deaths 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers Royal Air Force officers 20th-century English businesspeople