Leslie Charteris; Creator of ‘The Saint’ Tales

Author Leslie Charteris, creator of the suave and daring detective Simon Templar--better known as “The Saint”--has died in Windsor, England, after a short illness, officials said Friday. He was 85.

One of the most popular and prolific crime and adventure writers of his time, Charteris saw more than 50 of his novels and collections of short stories published during his lifetime in as many as 15 languages.

At least eight of his scripts were made into Saint movies. A Saint television series in the 1960s, starring Roger Moore as the sophisticated bachelor sleuth with an endless supply of gorgeous female companions, secured Charteris’ worldwide fame.

Born Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin in Singapore on May 12, 1907, to a Chinese surgeon and his English wife, Charteris spoke Malay and Chinese dialects before learning English. His father was a direct descendant of the Shang dynasty emperors of China.

Moving to England as a young man, Charteris changed his name in 1928--the year his first Saint novel, “Meet the Tiger,” was published--and briefly attended Cambridge University.

Over the next three years, he tried his hand at a variety of occupations, working as a merchant seaman, gold prospector, tin miner, pearl fisherman, bartender and professional bridge player as he traveled around the world.

In the early 1930s, Charteris settled in the United States, and by 1933, he was employed as a Hollywood screenwriter.

A series of motion picture scripts followed. Most of his movies--such as “The Saint’s Vacation,” “The Saint in New York,” “The Saint’s Girl Friday” and “The Saint in Palm Springs”--concerned the adventures of Charteris’ detective character, but there were others, such as “River Gang” and “Tarzan and the Huntress.”

Charteris’ first three marriages ended in divorce, but the last, to former movie actress Audrey Long, endured from 1952 until his death.