Vivian Ernest Coltman-Allen (23 July 1908 – 1 February 2006), known professionally as Ernest Dudley, was an English actor,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, novelist, journalist and screenwriter.

Biography

Personal life

Vivian Ernest Coltman-Allen was born in

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, Worcestershire, and educated at Taplow School. He began his theatrical career acting in repertory in Ireland, later joining Charles Doran's Shakespeare company. He met and married the actress Jane Graham, while they were on tour in 1930. He and his wife had a daughter together. He was widowed in 1981 and remained working on novels, stories and scripts until his death, aged 97.

Career

The actor and scriptwriter Ernest Dudley was the creator of the hit BBC radio crime series ''

Dr Morelle ''Doctor Morelle'' is a 1949 British mystery film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Valentine Dyall, Peter Drury and Hugh Griffith. It is also known by two alternative titles: ''Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress'' or simply '' ...

'' and also the television series '' The Armchair Detective''. The ''Dr Morelle'' — 'the man you love to hate!' — series which was hugely popular during the 1940s and 1950s and originally starred

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

in the title role. In the fifties the role was given to

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...

, who co-starred with

Sheila Sim Sheila Beryl Grant Sim, Baroness Attenborough (5 June 1922 – 19 January 2016) was an English film and theatre actress. She was also the wife of the actor, director and peer Richard Attenborough. Career Sheila Beryl Grant Sim was born in L ...

. Dudley created Dr Morelle for a BBC Radio anthology programme ''

Monday Night at Eight ''Monday Night at Eight'' ia a weekly BBC radio magazine and variety programme that was broadcast live on the BBC Home Service, with Ronnie Waldman doing the interviews and announcements, produced by Harry S. Pepper. The programme was launched ...

'' during 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He featured the character in many short stories and numerous novels as well as a stage play ''

'', which he co-wrote with Arthur Watkyn. He appeared in the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

in numerous small parts, before taking a job with ''

The Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper and online newspaper, news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman ...

'' during the late 1930s as a society reporter. He also began writing plays and crime series for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. His popular radio series '' The Armchair Detective'' attracted more than ten million listeners a week. A TV series followed, as well as a film in 1952. In 1956 he bought a Jowett Jupiter with an unusual special body by Harold Radford. This had the merit (to Dudley) of being completely unlike any other car, and therefore unidentifiable.

Films

* '' The Armchair Detective'' (1952)… as Himself

Novels

* '' The Harassed Hero'' (1954) * ''

The Dark Bureau ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (1950)

Radio Plays

* ''

Crime Chasers Ltd In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

'' * ''

SOS Sally is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

'' * ''

Mr Walker Wants to Know ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

'' * ''

'' …

, with

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

* '' The Armchair Detective'' (1942) * ''

The House of Unspeakable Secrets ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (1967), with Leslie Phillips

Screenplays

* '' Concerning Mr. Martin'' (1937) * '' Lassie from Lancashire'' (1938) * '' Dial 999'' (1938) * '' The Armchair Detective'' (1952) * '' Schlitz Playhouse of Stars...

Secrets of the Old Bailey Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'' (1958)...television episode (story)

Stage Plays

* ''

Television Series

* '' The Armchair Detective''

External links

*
''The Radio Detectives – A Case for Dr Morelle''
BBC radio programme on famous detectives with Professor Jeffrey Richards – streaming audio

interview British Entertainment History Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Ernest 1908 births 2006 deaths English radio writers English male journalists English male screenwriters English dramatists and playwrights English short story writers English male stage actors People from Dudley British male dramatists and playwrights English male short story writers English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers Authors of Sexton Blake 20th-century English screenwriters