Edgar Lustgarten

{{short description|British writer and broadcaster (1907–1978)}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2009}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use British English|date=January 2012}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Edgar Lustgarten | image = Edgar_Lustgarten.jpg | caption = Edgar Lustgarten hosting ''[[Scotland Yard (film series)|Scotland Yard]]'' (1953–1961) | pseudonym = Brent Wood | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|5|3}} | birth_place = [[Broughton, Salford|Broughton Park]],<ref>Broughton Park is part of Broughton which is a district of Salford, not Manchester</ref> [[County Borough of Salford|Salford]],<ref>This is the correct 'Salford' at the time - 1907</ref> [[Lancashire]], UK | death_date = {{death date and age|1978|12|15|1907|5|3|df=y}} | death_place = [[Marylebone]], [[London]], UK | occupation = Novelist and journalist | nationality = English | period = | genre = [[Detective fiction]], [[crime fiction]], [[mystery fiction]] | subject = | spouse = Joyce Goldstone (m. 1932–1971) (her death) |  | signature =

| website = }} '''Edgar Marcus Lustgarten''' (3 May 1907 – 15 December 1978) was a British broadcaster and noted [[crime writer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2ba318c7ae|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722233320/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2ba318c7ae|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-22|title=Edgar Lustgarten|work=BFI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y8zk|title=BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Edgar Lustgarten|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

==Biography==

Born in the [[Broughton, Salford|Broughton Park]]<ref>Broughton Park is part of Broughton which is a district of Salford, not Manchester</ref> area of [[County Borough of Salford|Salford]],<ref>This is the correct 'Salford' at the time - 1907</ref> [[Lancashire]], he was the son of Joseph and Sara (née Finklestein) Lustgarten. His father was a Romanian-Jewish barrister. Lustgarten was educated at [[Manchester Grammar School]] and [[St John's College, Oxford|St John's College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]]. He was President of the [[Oxford Union]] for the [[Hilary term]] of 1930. His years at the bar—he was a practising barrister, 1930–40—provided the background to his crime novels and his studies in true crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radiosoundsfamiliar.com/edgar-lustgarten.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127024333/http://radiosoundsfamiliar.com/edgar-lustgarten.php|archive-date=2014-01-27|title=Edgar Lustgarten|work=radiosoundsfamiliar.com}}</ref> In 1932 he married Joyce Goldstone in [[Manchester]].<ref>General Register Office of England and Wales, Marriages, September quarter 1932, Manchester South, Vol 8, page 617</ref> She came from a family of jewellers.<ref>Censuses of Great Britain, 1881, 1891, 1901 & 1911</ref> Joyce died in 1972. They had no children. <ref>General Register Office of England and Wales, Deaths, March quarter 1972, St Marylebone, Vol 5d, page 2322</ref>

During the [[Second World War]] he was medically unfit for active service but worked in Radio [[Counterpropaganda|Counter-Propaganda]] (1940–45), under the name of 'Brent Wood'. He was a BBC staff producer, 1945–48, and organiser of the BBC television programme ''In the News'' (1950–54) and of the ATV programme ''Free Speech'' (1955–61).

His books included crime fiction but most were accounts of true criminal cases. The legal justice system and courtroom procedures were his main interests and his writings reflect this. He also wrote numerous articles for newspapers and presented the radio series ''Advocate Extraordinary''. He used to say that he had no schedules, writing everywhere any time, in bars, in cars, and while walking in the streets.

==Legacy==

Lustgarten died at the [[Marylebone]] [[Library]] while reading ''[[The Spectator]]''.<ref>Bathurst, Bella. {{cite news |last=Bathurst |first=Bella |date=1 May 2011 |title=The Secret Life of Libraries. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/01/the-secret-life-of-libraries |work=The Guardian |location=London}} The Observer. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.</ref>

He is remembered for hosting the series of British film shorts ''[[Scotland Yard (film series)|Scotland Yard]]'' (1953–61) and ''[[The Scales of Justice]]'' (1962–67), filmed at [[Merton Park Studios]], London, SW19.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ctva.biz/UK/ScotlandYard.htm|title=CTVA UK - "Scotland Yard" (Merton Park Studios, UK)(1953-61)and hosted by Edgar Lustgarten|work=ctva.biz}}</ref> Initially released as supporting films in UK cinemas, ''Scotland Yard'' was broadcast beginning on 17 November 1957, by the [[American Broadcasting Company]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/scotland-yard/episodes/204254|title=''Scotland Yard'' episodes on ABC|work=TV Guide|accessdate=14 December 2010}}</ref> His novel ''[[Game for Three Losers (novel)|Game for Three Losers]]'' was filmed as an episode of Merton Park's ''[[Game for Three Losers|Edgar Wallace Mysteries]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aacd666 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713160131/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aacd666 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-13 |title=Game for Three Losers (1965) |work=BFI}}</ref>

In the decade following his death, Lustgarten briefly ascended into the realm of pop culture when his inimitable voice was heard in dance music. Samples of him reading from "Death on the Crumbles" were used in the [[Australia]]n band [[Severed Heads]]' 1984 hit song "[[Dead Eyes Opened]]". His works are still used as introductory readings in several law schools in different countries because of their accuracy on the atmosphere of trials and attorneys' behaviour. He was mimicked as the Narrator in ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=2769 | title=Rewind @ dvdcompare.net }}</ref>

In October 2012, his film work made its debut on DVD when Network released the complete series of ''The Scales of Justice'' as a two-disc set.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://networkonair.com/shop/1624-scales-of-justice-the-the-complete-collection.html|title=Network on Air > Scales of Justice (The): The Complete Collection|work=networkonair.com|access-date=6 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302222610/http://networkonair.com/shop/1624-scales-of-justice-the-the-complete-collection.html|archive-date=2 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Scotland Yard'' was released by Network DVD in 2014 as a seven-disc set.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://networkonair.com/shop/1652-scotland-yard-the-complete-series.html|title=Network on Aire > Scotland Yard: The Complete Series|work=networkonair.com|access-date=6 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811054307/http://networkonair.com/shop/1652-scotland-yard-the-complete-series.html|archive-date=11 August 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Publications==

Crime novels * ''[[A Case to Answer]]'' (1947) * ''[[Blondie Iscariot]]'' (1948) * ''[[Game for Three Losers (novel)|Game for Three Losers]]'' (1952) * ''I'll Never Leave You'' (1971) * ''Turn the Light Out as You Go'' (1978)

True crime * ''Verdict in Dispute'' (1949) * ''Defender's Triumph'' (1951) * ''The Woman in the Case'' (1955) * ''The Murder and the Trial'' (1958) * ''The Business of Murder'' (1968) * ''The Chalk Pit Murder'' (1975) * '' A Century of Murderers'' (1975) * ''The Illustrated Story of Crime'' (1976)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External sources== * ''Who Was Who'', vol. 7, 1971–80, London : A. & C. Black, 1981.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lustgarten, Edgar}} [[Category:1907 births]] [[Category:1978 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century English novelists]] [[Category:English crime fiction writers]] [[Category:English crime writers]] [[Category:Writers from Salford]] [[Category:20th-century English Jews]] [[Category:English people of Latvian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:People educated at Manchester Grammar School]] [[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Oxford]] [[Category:Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association]] [[Category:BBC people]] [[Category:English broadcasters]] [[Category:English male novelists]] [[Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union]] [[Category:English people of Romanian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:English barristers]] [[Category:20th-century English male journalists]] [[Category:20th-century English journalists]]