John Frederick Burke (8 March 1922 – 20 September 2011) was an English writer of novels and short stories. He also wrote under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, 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 na ...

s J. F. Burke, Jonathan Burke, Jonathan George, Robert Miall, Martin Sands, Owen Burke, Sara Morris, Russ Ames, Roger Rougiere, and Joanna Jones; and co-wrote with his wife Jean Burke under the pen name Harriet Esmond.

Biography

Burke was born on 8 March 1922 in Rye, Sussex, and educated at Holt High School, Liverpool, now known as

Childwall Academy Childwall Sports and Science Academy is a secondary school in Liverpool, England, with a sixth form. It is an academy and part of the Lydiate Learning Trust. Academic performance and inspections As of 2022, the college's most recent inspectio ...

. He served in the Royal Air Force,

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

, and the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

during the war. After working for the publishers Museum Press and the Books for Pleasure Group, he was a Public Relations and Publications Executive for Shell (1959–63) and Story Editor for Twentieth Century-Fox (1963–65) before becoming a full-time writer in 1966. Writing as Jonathan Burke, J. F. Burke and John Burke, he produced several suspense stories and psychological thrillers, including the Atlantic Award in Literature winning ''Swift Summer'' (1949; by J. F. Burke), ''These Haunted Streets'' (1950), ''Chastity House'' (1952), ''Echo of Barbara'' (1959; filmed in 1960) and ''The Twisted Tongues'' (1964). Some of his other novels appeared under the pseudonyms of Joanna Jones, Sara Morris, Jonathan George and Owen Burke. He achieved equal popularity with his science fiction short stories in magazines like ''New Worlds'' and ''New Frontiers'', and the best of these were collected in ''Alien Landscapes'' (1955). His first two SF novels, ''The Dark Gateway'' (1953) and ''The Echoing Worlds'' (1954), both dealt with the theme of parallel universes; and ''Pursuit Through Time'' (1956) described an attempt to change the course of history while time-travelling into the past. For more than thirty years Burke

novelised A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

a large number of stage plays, film and TV scripts, notably

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...

's ''

The Entertainer An entertainer is a person who entertains (singer, actor, comedian, etc.) The Entertainer may refer to: Music Songs * "The Entertainer" (rag), a 1902 classic piano rag written by Scott Joplin *"The Entertainer", rearrangement of the Joplin rag by ...

'' and '' Look Back in Anger'', ''

The Angry Silence ''The Angry Silence'' is a 1960 black-and-white British drama film directed by Guy Green and starring Richard Attenborough, Pier Angeli, Michael Craig and Bernard Lee. The film marked the first release through screenwriter Bryan Forbes's pro ...

'' (all 1960), '' Flame in the Streets'' (1961), ''The Lion of Sparta'' (1961; the film was released as '' The 300 Spartans''), ''

The Boys Boys are young male humans. Boys or The Boys may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''The Boys'' (1962 British film), a courtroom drama by Sidney J. Furie * ''The Boys'' (1962 Finnish film), a war drama by Mikko Niskanen * ''Boys'' ( ...

'' (1962), '' The System'' (1963), '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964), '' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'' (1965), ''That Magnificent Air Race'' (1965; the film was released as ''

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes'' is a 1965 British period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film ...

''), ''The Hammer Horror Omnibus'' (1966/7; two volumes), ''

Till Death Us Do Part ''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...

'', ''

Privilege Privilege may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Privilege'' (film), a 1967 film directed by Peter Watkins * ''Privilege'' (Ivor Cutler album), 1983 * ''Privilege'' (Television Personalities album), 1990 * ''Privilege (Abridged)'', an alb ...

'' (both 1967), '' Smashing Time'', Ian Fleming's ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

'' (both 1968), '' Moon Zero Two'' (1969), ''Luke's Kingdom'' (1976), ''King and Castle'' (1986) and a series of '' The Bill'' novels, beginning in 1985. ''A Hard Day's Night'' came close to not being published at all. The then Director of Pan Books, Clarence Paget, saw the Beatles as nothing but a passing fad, and it took Burke and many of Pan's office workers – all Beatles fans – to persuade Paget otherwise. The book went on to sell 1.25 million copies. Several other tie-ins appeared under the names of Martin Sands and Robert Miall, including '' Maroc 7'' (1967), '' The Best House in London'' (1969), two '' Jason King'' thrillers in 1972, and also ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

'' and its sequel ''UFO 2'' (1970/1971). Burke also wrote the source story for the 1967 cult horror film '' The Sorcerers''. The screenplay has now been published in a limited edition of 500 copies. Burke also contributed to the TV series ''

Late Night Horror ''Late Night Horror'' is a BBC horror series shown in 1968 over six 25-minute episodes. An anthology of short horror stories, ''Late Night Horror'' was cancelled after six episodes due to complaints from viewers, and the majority of the series i ...

'' (BBC, 1968), ''Tales of Unease'' ( LWT, 1970) and ''The Frighteners'' (LWT, 1972). Among Burke's later novels were a series featuring the Victorian psychic investigator and occult detective Dr Alex Caspian (a stage magician by day, assisted by his wife, Bronwen), and a further three Victorian Gothic suspense novels (by "Harriet Esmond") written in collaboration with his wife Jean."Burke, John" by Chris Morgan in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press, 1998, (pp. 107-109). These were always carefully researched, and explored the regions described in these stories. He edited a trilogy of books under the "Unease" banner: ''Tales of Unease'' (1966), ''More Tales of Unease'' (1969) and ''New Tales of Unease'' (1976). Several ghost and horror stories appeared in the Pan "Ghost Book" series, the '' Pan Book of Horror Stories'', ''New Terrors'', ''The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror'' and his short stories were collected in the Ash Tree Press volume ''We've Been Waiting For You'' (2000), which included his most celebrated story, "And Cannot Come Again". He wrote two original short stories that were subsequently published in

Johnny Mains Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

's tribute book ''Back From The Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories'' (2010), was interviewed at length about his tie-in career for ''Bedabbled!'' magazine (2011) and was in talks to publish a novel that began life in the 1950s and was rejuvenated in early 2011. Robert Hale also published five novels in the last decade: ''Stalking Widow'' (2000), ''The Second Strain'' (2002), ''Wrong Turnings'' (2004), ''Hang Time'' (2007) and ''The Merciless Dead'' (2008). Burke also wrote over twenty non-fiction titles, including several travel books for Batsford: ''Suffolk'' (1971), ''Sussex'' (1974), ''English Villages'' (1975), ''Czechoslovakia'' (1976) and ''The English Inn'' (1981). In 1985 he reached the semi-finals in TV's '' Mastermind''; his wife Jean also reached the semi-finals two years later.

Bibliography

Novelisations

*''

'' (1960) *'' Look Back in Anger'' (1960) *'' Flame in the Streets'' (1961) *'' The Lion of Sparta'' (1961) *''

'' (1961) *''

'' (1962) *''

Private Potter ''Private Potter'' is a 1962 British drama film directed by Caspar Wrede and starring Tom Courtenay, Mogens Wieth, Ronald Fraser and James Maxwell. Plot During the Cyprus Emergency (1955-1959), the eponymous Private Potter is a soldier who cl ...

'' (1962) *''Guilty Party'' (1963) *'' The Man Who Finally Died'' (1963) *''

The World Ten Times Over ''The World Ten Times Over'' is a 1963 British drama film written and directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Sylvia Syms, June Ritchie, Edward Judd and William Hartnell. Donald Sutherland makes a brief appearance in a night club scene, one of his ...

'' (1963) *'' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) *'' The System'' (1964) *''

Dr Terror's House of Horrors ''Dr Terror's House of Horrors'' is a 1965 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky, and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. It was the f ...

'' (1965) *'' That Magnificent Air Race'' (1965) *'' The Power Game'' (1966) *'' The Trap'' (1966) *'' The Hammer Horror Omnibus'' (1966) *'' The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus'' (1967) *''

The Jokers ''The Jokers'' is a 1967 British comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Michael Winner. The film stars Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed as brothers who hatch a plot to steal the Crown Jewels. Very much of i ...

'' (as Martin Sands) (1967) *'' Maroc 7'' (as Martin Sands) (1967) *''

'' (1967) *''

'' (1967) *'' Smashing Time'' (1968) *''

'' (1968) *'' The Bliss of Mrs Blossom'' (1968) *'' Moon Zero Two'' (1969) *'' The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' (1969) *'' The Best House in London'' (as Martin Sands) (1969) *'' All the Right Noises'' (1970) *'' Strange Report'' (1970) *''

'' (as Robert Miall) (1970) *'' UFO 2'' (as Robert Miall) (1971) *'' Dad's Army'' (1971) *'' Jason King'' (as Robert Miall) (1972) *''

Kill Jason King! Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Kill may also refer to: Media *''Kill!'', a 1968 film directed by Kihachi Okamoto * ''Kill'' (Cannibal Corpse album), 2006 * ...

'' (as Robert Miall) (1972) *'' The Adventurer'' (as Robert Miall) (1973) *'' The Protectors'' (as Robert Miall) (1973) *''

Luke's Kingdom ''Luke's Kingdom'' is a 1976 Australian TV series set in colonial Australia. Directors included Peter Weir and writers included Elisabeth Kata and Tony Morphett. It was co-produced with Trident Television, the then owners of Yorkshire and Tyne ...

'' (1975) *'' Prince Regent'' (1977) *'' The Bill'' (1985) *'' The 4th Floor'' (1986) *''

King and Castle ''King and Castle'' is a British television crime drama series, made by Thames Television and screened on ITV, that first broadcast on 20 August 1985. The series stars Derek Martin as Ronald King, a Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police ...

'' (1986) *'' The Bill 2'' (1987) *''

The Bill 3 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1989) *''

The Bill 4 ''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 E ...

'' (1990) *'' The Bill 5'' (1991) *'' The Bill 6'' (1992) *'' The Bill 1,2,3'' (1992) *'' London's Burning'' (1992) *'' London's Burning'' (1995) *'' London's Burning'' (1995)

Dr Alex Caspian series

* ''The Devil's Footsteps'' (1976) * ''The Black Charade'' (1977) * ''Ladygrove'' (1978)

References

External links

*
BibliographyFansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, John 1922 births 2011 deaths Scottish novelists Scottish short story writers Scottish horror writers 20th-century Scottish novelists Scottish male novelists 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century British male writers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Marines personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldiers