Betty Mabel Lilian Uelmen (née Williams; 11 January 1919 – 6 September 1974) was a British journalist, screenwriter, and

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

writer who used the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s Dail Ambler and Danny Spade. She was also known professionally as both Betty Williams and Betty Uelmen.

Life

She was born in

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and worked as a

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

journalist and correspondent before settling on a career in fiction writing. By 1950, she was publishing at least one novel a month under the Danny Spade name for pulp paperback publisher Scion Ltd; she later wrote for Milestone Publications. Her writing style and content were somewhat influenced by

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, called the "king of pulp fiction". His stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 ...

. After the boom in pulp fiction in the United Kingdom ended in the mid-1950s, she turned to screenwriting under the Dail Ambler name. She later lapsed into semi-retirement in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, where she died at the age of 55. She is buried under the name Dail Ambler in North Watford Cemetery in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

Selected work

Books

* ''The Dame Plays Rough'' (1950) by Danny Spade * ''Waterfront Rat'' (1951) by Danny Spade * ''Calling Mr. Spade'' (1952) by Danny Spade * ''The Lady Says When'' (1952) by Dail Ambler * ''Honey, You Slay Me'' (1953) by Danny Spade * ''White Curves and Black Coffee'' (1953) by Danny Spade * ''The Virgin Collector'' (1971) by Dail Ambler * ''Three Men for the Job'' (1975) by Dail Ambler (posthumous)

Film

*''

Beat Girl ''Beat Girl'' is a 1960 British teen exploitation drama film directed by Edmond T. Gréville. The film was released in the United States under the title ''Wild for Kicks''. The title character of ''Beat Girl'' was played by starlet Gillian H ...

'' (1960), directed by

Edmond T. Gréville Edmond T. Gréville (born Edmond Gréville Thonger; 20 June 1906 – 26 May 1966) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was married to the actress Vanda Gréville. Career Gréville began his career as a film journalist and critic. ...

*''Take Me Over'' (1963), directed by Robert Lynn *'' Delayed Flight'' (1964), directed by Michael Luckwell and Tony Young *''

Night after Night after Night ''Night After Night After Night'', also known as ''Come Nightfall'', ''He Kills Night after Night after Night'', and ''The Night Slasher'', is a 1969 British thriller film directed by Lindsay Shonteff (as Lewis J. Force) and starring Jack May, ...

'' (1969), directed by

Lindsay Shonteff Lindsay Craig Shonteff (5 November 1935 – 11 March 2006) was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom. Biography Lindsay Shonteff was born in Toronto, ...

Television

* two scripts for ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Ca ...

'' ** ''The Pillars of Midnight'' (1958) ** ''Murder in Slow Motion'' (1958) * one episode for ''

Harpers West One ''Harpers West One'' was an ATV television drama series about a fictional department store, Harpers, in the West 1 district of London. The show was created by John Whitney and Geoffrey Bellman and ran in one-hour episodes from 1961 to 1963. I ...

'' (1961)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambler, Dail 1919 births 1974 deaths English crime fiction writers English women novelists Pseudonymous women writers Writers from Aldershot English journalists 20th-century British screenwriters 20th-century English women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers