Simon Templar

Simon Templar is a fictional character in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris entitled The Saint published between 1928 and 1963, after which other authors continued writing new books featuring the character into the 1990s.

Overview

Templar is known as The Saint due to his initials (ST), and also because of his tendency to do good deeds, despite his nefarious reputation. He sometimes uses the nom de guerre Sebastian Tombs and also calls himself by sundry other names, all with the initials S.T., such as Sullivan Titwillow and Sugarman Treacle - the Saint has a boyish sense of humour. He frequently leaves a 'calling card' at the scenes of his 'crimes', consisting of a stick drawing of a man with a halo, which is the logo of both the book series and the later 1960s TV series. (This image is visible on the book cover reproduced at right.)

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The possibility that Simon Templar started his career as a criminal, and burglary is often alluded to in the books. It is clear from the texts, however, that at the time of the books, all of his income derives from the pockets of the 'ungodly' (as he terms those who live by a less moral code than his own). There are several references to a 'ten percent collection fee' as he extracts large sums of money from his victims, the remainder being returned to its owners or given away. These unworthies include bent politicians, warmongers, indeed all the nastier forms of low life. "He claims he's a Robin Hood," bleats one of his victims, "but to me he's just a robbing hood."

Related Topics:
Criminal - Burglary - Politicians - Warmongers - Robin Hood - Victims

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The Saint has many partners in his escapades in the books, though none that lasted throughout the series. In the early books the most frequently recurring was Patricia Holm. Inspector Claude Eustace Teal could often be found attempting to put the Saint behind bars, although in the later books they can be found working in partnership. In the very earliest stories the Saint had a veritable band of compatriots, including Patricia Holm, Norman Kent, Archie Sheridan, Dicky Tremain (a character name that later appeared in Twin Peaks), and Roger Conway. When most of these dropped out of the stories, the dimwitted but reliable thug Hoppy Uniatz (who drank Vat 69 like it was lemonade) was frequently found at Simon's side.

Related Topics:
Claude Eustace Teal - Twin Peaks - Vat 69 - Lemonade

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The time period of the books begins in the 1920s and moves through the 1930s and 1940s quite recognisably as the series of about 45 books progresses. In the early books most of the Saint's activities are clearly illegal (though directed at much worse characters). In later books, this becomes less so. In the books written during the period of World War II, The Saint (in common with many fictional maverick heroes) was recruited by the government to help with the war effort by tracking down spies and similar undercover work. The quality of writing also changes; early books have a freshness of spirit which becomes replaced to an extent by an air of cynicism in the later works. A few Saint stories crossed into the realms of science fiction and fantasy. Charteris started to step back from writing the books in the early 1960s. The last few titles released carried his name but were written by others; the last Saint novel to carry his name was published in 1973 but a number of additional books have appeared since then. Charteris died in 1993. A few additional Saint novels appeared around the time of the 1990s film starring Val Kilmer.

Related Topics:
Characters - World War II - Science fiction - Fantasy - Val Kilmer

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The character appeared in a string of movies in the 1930s and 40s, frequently portrayed by George Sanders. (He later appeared as a very similar character called The Falcon in a string of Falcon movies.) Vincent Price played Simon in a radio series made around the same time. Many years later Roger Moore revived the role in a long-running television show The Saint (1962 - driving a Volvo P1800 with licence plates ST1). Since then there have been several other actors who played him in less successful TV series, most notably Return of the Saint (1978) starring Ian Ogilvy (who outdid Moore in his interpretation of the Saint, in the view of some fans). In the mid-1980s, the National Enquirer tabloid and other newspapers reported that Moore was planning to produce a movie based upon The Saint with Pierce Brosnan as Templar, but it was never made. A pilot for a The Saint in Manhattan series starring Australian actor Andrew Clarke (who with his moustache bore a passing similarity to Tom Selleck) was shown in 1987, produced by Don Taffner, but it never progressed beyond the single pilot episode. That production featured another character from the Charteris book The Saint in New York, Inspector John Fernack of the NYPD, while Templar got about in a black Lamborghini, also bearing the ST1 licence plate. In 1989, a series of six movies was made for Britain's ITV by Taffner, starring Simon Dutton.

Related Topics:
George Sanders - The Falcon - Vincent Price - Roger Moore - The Saint - Volvo P1800 - Ian Ogilvy - National Enquirer - Pierce Brosnan - Australia - Andrew Clarke - Tom Selleck - Don Taffner - Lamborghini - ITV - Simon Dutton

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A film with Val Kilmer in the title role was finally made in 1997, but diverged far from the Charteris books, though it did revive Templar's use of aliases. Whereas the original Saint resorted to aliases which all had the initials S.T., Kilmer's character used names of Christian saints. The film mirrored some aspects of Charteris's own life, notably his origins in the Far East, though not in an orphanage as the film portrayed.

Related Topics:
Val Kilmer - Far East - Orphanage

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