Personal: Original name, Marcus Beresford; name legally changed during the 1960's. Born March 28, 1919, in London, England; son of John Davis (a writer) Beresford. Married Ruda Podemska and had three children: Antonia, Vaness Tara, and Shaena . In 1989 he was living in Santa Monica, California.
Education: Attended St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, 1937-38, and Westminster College, 1939-40.
Career: Chairman of Dover Film Production, Inc. Writer.
Military: Merchant marine during World War II.
Member: PEN, Writers Guild.
Writings:
Rain Before Seven (novel), Harper, 1945.
The Rod and the Staff (novel), Harper, 1947.
The Barriers Between (novel), Dial, 1949.
The Choice (novel), Dial, 1950.
The Time of the Fire (novel), Random House, 1954.
"Double Trouble" (screenplay), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1967.
The Man Who Liked Women (novel), Simon & Schuster, 1972.
The Mine of Lost Days (juvenile), Lippincott, 1974.
Survivor (novel), Simon & Schuster, 1976.
The Lizard's Tail (novel), Simon & Schuster, 1979.
Murder in the Family (novel), Avon, 1985.
A Life of Her Own (novel), Houghton, 1985.
Also, author of the play "The Man Who Let It Rain," first produced in London at Theatre Royal. Contributed to numerous television series, including "Kraft Theater," "Playhouse 90," "Amos Burke," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Honey West", "Barnaby Jones," and "Fantasy Island." Author of teleplays for the BBC and for ITV. Contributed to periodicals, including Colliers, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, and Cosmopolitan.
"The Lizards Tail" was adapted for the motion picture "The Hand," Orion Pictures, 1981.
*The information above comes largely from Contemporary Authors New Revision #25, 1989 and Mr. Brandel's contributions to the Three Investigators series was omitted.
*Thanks to Stephen Bowie for additional information.
