Anthony Armstrong (writer)
British-Canadian writer

Anthony Armstrong (writer)

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British-Canadian writer
A.K.A.
George Anthony Armstrong Willis
Gender:
Male
Places:
United KingdomGreat Britain
Is:
WriterNovelistPlaywright
Work field:
Film, TV, Stage & RadioLiterature
Birth:
2 January 1897(Esquimalt)
Death:
10 February 1972
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Introduction

George Anthony Armstrong Willis (1897–1976) was an Anglo-Canadian writer, dramatist and essayist. He was the son of George Hughlings Armstrong Willis, R. N. and Adela Emma Temple Frere; although his parents were both English, he was born in Esquimalt, British Columbia as a consequence of his father's career as a Paymaster Captain in the Royal Navy. They returned to England before his brother's birth in 1900 in Dorset. He was educated at Uppingham School. His brother John Christopher Temple Willis (1900–1969) was Director-General of the Ordnance Survey 1953–1957, and a recognised watercolourist.
He married Frances Monica Sealy, and had three children: John Humfrey Armstrong Willis (1928–2012); Antonia Armstrong Willis (born 1932); and Felicity Armstrong Willis (1936-2006). Antonia married the art expert and gallery owner Jeremy Maas; their son, Rupert, is also an art expert, notable for his appearances on the Antiques Roadshow.
Armstrong contributed to the screenplay of Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937); and several of his own works were adapted into films including The Strange Case of Mr Pelham, which was made into a first-season episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and directed by Hitchcock), and the 1970 film The Man Who Haunted Himself.

Major works

Novels

  • Lure of the Past (1920)
  • The Love of Prince Raameses (1921)
  • Wine of Death (1925)
  • Patrick, Undergraduate (1926)
  • The Trail of Fear (1927)
  • The Secret Trail (1928)
  • The Trail of the Lotto (1929)
  • Apple and Percival (1931)
  • The Trail of the Black King (1931)
  • The Poison Trail (1932)
  • Britisher On Broadway (1932)
  • Easy Warriors, Etc (1932)
  • Ten Minute Alibi (1934)
  • Without Witness (1934)
  • Cottage Into House (1936)
  • The Pack of Pieces (1942)
  • The End of the Road (1943)
  • When the Bells Rang (1943)
  • No Higher Mountain (1951)
  • He Was Found in the Road (1952) (filmed as The Man in the Road) (1956)
  • Spies in Amber (1956)
  • The Strange Case of Mr Pelham (1957)
  • One Jump Ahead (1973)

Plays

  • In the Dentist's Chair (1931)
  • The Eleventh Hour (1933)
  • Mile-Away Murder (1937)