Ted Lewis (writer)

{{Short description|British writer}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox writer | honorific_prefix = | name = Ted Lewis | honorific_suffix = | image =Ted_Lewis_(Writer).jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = Ted Lewis, is sitting facing the camera. He has a lit cigarette in an outstretched arm and is wearing a suit and tie | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = Alfred Edward Lewis | birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|01|15|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|03|27|1940|01|15|df=yes}} | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = | language = | nationality =  | citizenship =  | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre =  | subject =  | movement = | notable_works = ''Jack's Return Home''<br>''Jack Carter's Law'' | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website =  | portaldisp =  }}

'''Alfred Edward Lewis''' (15 January 1940 – 27 March 1982)<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Lewis, Alfred Edward [Ted] (1940–1982), novelist|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-105384|access-date=2020-12-09|year = 2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/105384|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref> was a British writer known for his crime fiction.

==Early life== Alfred Edward Lewis was born in Stretford, Manchester and was an only child. In 1946, the family moved to Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire. As a child, Lewis contracted rheumatic fever and spent almost a year away from school in bed rest. During that time he read books and comics and drew constantly. From a young age he was a fan of film, particularly Western epics, B-movies and gangster pictures.<ref name=mafiapigeon>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Ted|last2=Triplow |first2=Nick |date=4 November 2014 |title=Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dl-OAwAAQBAJ&dq=ted+lewis+get+carter+stretford&pg=PT261 |location=New York|publisher=Syndicate Books |pages=COMEBACKTO |chapter=Ted Lewis: Making it Real |isbn= 9781616955083}}</ref> He had a strict upbringing and his parents did not want their son to go to art school, but his English teacher Henry Treece, recognising his creative talents in writing and art, persuaded them not to stand in his way. Lewis attended Hull Art School<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/analysis/hull-noir-shedding-light-on-the-dark-side-of-life-1-8845612| title = Hull Noir - shedding light on the dark side of life {{!}} Yorkshire Post}} </ref> for four years.

==Career== Lewis moved to London in 1961 with £70 he earned from his first illustration commission, the Alan Delgado children's book, ''The Hot Water Bottle Mystery''.<ref name=mafiapigeon/> His first work in London was in advertising, and then as an animation specialist in television and films (among them the Beatles' ''Yellow Submarine'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2018/01/godfather-brit-noir-cult-crime-writer-ted-lewis-due-renaissance |title=The godfather of Brit noir: cult crime writer Ted Lewis is due a renaissance |work=The New Statesman |last=Myers |first=Ben |date=21 January 2018 |access-date=1 April 2022}}</ref> His first novel, ''All the Way Home and All the Night Through'', was published in 1965, followed by ''Jack's Return Home'', which created the noir school of British crime writing and pushed Lewis into the best-seller list. The novel was later retitled ''Get Carter'' after the success of the film of the same name, based on the novel and starring Michael Caine. After the collapse of his marriage Lewis returned to his home town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimetime.co.uk/The-Man-Behind-Get-Carter-Ted-Lewis/|title=The Man Behind Get Carter - Ted Lewis - Crime Time|author=|date=29 September 2008|website=CrimeTime.co.uk|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref>

Lewis wrote several episodes for the television series ''Z-Cars''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/analysis/hull-noir-shedding-light-on-the-dark-side-of-life-1-8845612| title = Hull Noir - shedding light on the dark side of life {{!}} Yorkshire Post| date = 8 November 2017}} </ref> Producer Graham Williams of ''Doctor Who'' , who had worked with Lewis on ''Z-Cars'', commissioned a script entitled ''The Doppelgangers'' in 1978 from Lewis. However, the script was rejected early the next year, and was never put into production.<ref>{{Citation |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Clayton |last=Pixley |first=Andrew |title=I'll Put You Together Again |journal=Doctor Who Magazine |volume=Special Edition 9 |year=2004 |publication-date=2004-12-22|p=12}}</ref>

Lewis's final book, assessed as his best by some critics, was ''GBH'', published in 1980, the title referring to grievous bodily harm in British law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/05/07/404415996/gangsters-goons-and-grievious-bodily-harm-in-ted-lewis-london|title=Gangsters, Goons And 'Grievous Bodily Harm' In Ted Lewis' London|author=|date=7 May 2015|website=NPR.org|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-coldly-brilliant-crime-novel-gbh-by-ted-lewis/2015/05/13/0cb695ba-f598-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html|title=The coldly brilliant crime novel 'GBH,' by Ted Lewis|author=|date=13 May 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ted-lewis/gbh/|title=GBH by Ted Lewis - Kirkus Reviews|author=|date=|website=KirkusReviews.com|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref> Lewis died in 1982 aged 42 of alcohol-related causes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/reviving-jack-carter-londons-toughest-pulp-hero |title = Reviving Jack Carter, London's Toughest Pulp Hero|website = The Daily Beast| date=28 August 2015 | last1=Canfield | first1=Kevin }}</ref>

In October 2017 Nick Triplow published a detailed biography ''Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimetime.co.uk/getting-carter-ted-lewis-birth-brit-noir-nick-triplow/|title=Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir by Nick Triplow - Crime Time|author=|date=7 October 2017|website=CrimeTime.co.uk|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref>

In 2020 The Ted Lewis Centre opened in Barton upon Humber www.tedlewiscentre.com celebrating his life and works.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-08-31 |title=National archive dedicated to author Ted Lewis to open in Barton |language=en-GB |work=GrimsbyLive |url=https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/national-archive-exhibition-centre-dedicated-4471528 |access-date=2022-02-28 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Books== * ''All the Way Home and All the Night Through'' (1965) * ''Jack's Return Home'' (1970) (paperback published in 1971 as ''Carter''. Later re-published as ''Get Carter'') * ''Plender'' (1971) * ''Billy Rags'' (1973) * ''Jack Carter's Law'' (1974) * ''The Rabbit'' (1975) * ''Boldt'' (1976) * ''Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon'' (1977) * ''GBH'' (1980)

==Films== * ''Jack's Return Home'' has been filmed three times: ** ''Get Carter'' (1971) with Michael Caine ** ''Hit Man'' (1972) with Bernie Casey and Pam Grier<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac6973b |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810154619/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac6973b |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 August 2016 |title = Hit Man (1972) {{!}} BFI}}</ref> ** ''Get Carter'' (2000) with Sylvester Stallone * ''Plender'' has been adapted as a French film: ** ''Le Serpent'' (2007) directed by Éric Barbier<ref>{{IMDb title|0486474|title=The Serpent}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Nick Triplow: ''Getting Carter : Ted Lewis and the birth of Brit Noir'', Harpenden, UK : No Exit Press, 2017, {{ISBN|978-1-84344-882-2}} * Monty Martin: "Ted Lewis. Novelist, Artist, Musician. Hard or Soft Boiled" {{ISBN|978-1-9161028-3-5}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0507794|name=Ted Lewis}} * [http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/tedlewis.html TW Books] * [http://www.jottings.ca/john/thriller_best.html The Best Thriller] * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201201404/http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.dear/carterbook.htm |date=February 1, 2012 |title=Short biography }} * [http://www.tedlewiscentre.com/ Ted Lewis Centre]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ted}} Category:1940 births Category:1982 deaths Category:Writers from Manchester Category:People from Stretford Category:People from Barton-upon-Humber Category:English crime fiction writers Category:English television writers Category:20th-century English novelists Category:20th-century British screenwriters Category:Writers from Lincolnshire Category:Alumni of Hull College of Education