Leslie Edgley
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Leslie John Edgley (October 14, 1912 – August 9, 2002) was an English-born American
mystery fiction Mystery is a genre fiction, fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains wiktionary:mysterious, mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually prov ...
writer,
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...
tist screenwriter and playwright. Among the works for which he became known are the scripts for many episodes of '' Perry Mason'', written as "Robert Bloomfield".


Early life and career

Edgley was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1912, but emigrated with his parents to Canada in 1918; four years later, they came to the United States, finally putting down roots in
East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...
. Edgley spent his formative years in the Marktown district, graduating from Washington High School in 1930. In 1936, one year after marrying East Chicago native Mary Anna Gustaitis; Edgley attained United States citizenship. In 1944, the couple relocated to California.Kott, Anthony J. (February 16, 1940)
"East Chicago Is Locale of Novel's Plot; Former Harbor Youth Author of Powerful New Work of Fiction"
''The Hammond Times''. p. 45. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
Beginning his writing career in the 1940s, Edgley published work under his own name, but also started using the name "Robert Bloomfield" as a pen name on some of his work as early as 1947. In 1952, Edgley was named as a former member of the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
by Roy Huggins, in testimony before the
House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...
. From 1956 forward, in order to work around being on the
Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...
, all of Edgley's television work was credited to his already established alias of Robert Bloomfield. As Robert Bloomfield, Edgley had a prolific TV writing career between 1956 and 1968, writing episodes of '' Lassie'', ''
Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS pro ...
'', '' Perry Mason'', ''
Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'', '' Rawhide'', '' The Wild Wild West'', and many other US TV series.


Works


as Leslie Edgley

*''No Birds Sing'', New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1940, 328 pp. *''Fear No More'', New York, Simon and Schuster, 1946, 202 pp. **Reprinted by Ace, 1953, bound dos-à-dos with Hal Braham (as Mel Colton), ''Never Kill A Cop'' *''False Face'', New York, Simon and Schuster, 1946, 202 pp. *''The Angry Heart'', Garden City, N.Y., Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, 1947, 190 pp. **Reprinted as ''Tracked Down'' by Ace, 1954, bound dos-à-dos with Martin L. Weiss, ''Death Hitches A Ride'' *''The Judas Goat'', Garden City, N.Y., Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, 1952, 190 pp. **Reprinted by Ace, 1953, bound dos-à-dos with Theodore S. Drachman, ''Cry Plague!'' *''The Runaway Pigeon'', Garden City, N.Y., Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, 1953, 188 pp. **Also published as ''One Blonde Died'', Lawrence E. Pivak, N.Y., 1953, Bestseller Mystery B171 **Published in UK as ''Diamonds Spell Death'', Arthur Barker, 1954, Museum Street Thriller series *''A Dirty Business'', New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969, 182 pp."Last of Judge Dee Series?; Also Recommended"
''The Boston Globe''. p. 80-B. Retrieved June 1, 2022.


as Robert Bloomfield

*''Shadow of Guilt'', New York, Doubleday, 1947 *''From This Day Forward'', New York, Doubleday, 1952 *''Lust for Vengeance'', New York, Doubleday, 1952, 189 pp. *''Russian Roulette'', New York, Harcourt, 1955 *''When Strangers Meet'', New York, Doubleday, 1956 *''Kill With Kindness'', New York, Doubleday, 1962


as Michael Gillian

*''Warrant for a Wanton'', New York, Mill-William Morrow & Company, 1952, 246 pp.


with Mary Edgley (as Brook Hastings)

*''The Demon Within'', New York, Doubleday, 1953


Notes


References


Further reading


"Son and Father Held in East Chicago Death"
''The Times'' (Munster, Indiana). April 21, 1930. p. 3. * Edgley, Leslie (April 12, 1932)
"An Honest Man"
''Shamokin News-Dispatch''. p. 3 * Edgley, Leslie (April 20, 1933)
"Valor's a Name"
''Shamokin News-Dispatch''. p. 6 * Edgley, Leslie (January 9, 1944)
"Solid Citizen"
''New York Daily News''. p. C24
"TV Films in Production as of Friday, Aug. 29: Federal Telefilm, Inc."
''Variety''. September 3, 1952. p. 18 * * United Press (September 30, 1952)
"Ex-Red Bares More Film Names"
''New York Daily News''. p. 34 * * * Hughes, Dorothy B. (January 30, 1953)
"Report Card of Crime"
''The Albuquerque Tribune''. p. 14 * Fink, John (December 30, 1956)
"In TV Dramas, The Certainty Is Uncertainty"
''Chicago Tribune''. Pt. 3, p. 6 * * * * * * * Hughes, Dorothy B. (March 2, 1969)
"The Crime File: Suspense Novels Await Scrutiny"
''Los Angeles Times''. Calendar, p. 38. * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgley, Leslie 20th-century American novelists 1912 births 2002 deaths People from East Chicago, Indiana British emigrants to Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States