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Colonel White Meets Mark Saber [The Vise] Three 2020
If you were fortunate to own a black and white television set in the 1950's then you probably remember Mark Saber, the urbane one-armed British private detective who always got his man no matter what the odds were. For one hundred and fifty four episodes Saber drove his Porsche through the streets of London with a series of five different assistants, two different secretaries, and his girlfriend, Ann, at his side. The shows appeared in America under various titles as The Vise, Detective's Diary, and Saber of London and in Great Britain as Mark Saber and Saber of London. The remarkable success of Mark Saber was due largely to actor Donald Gray, who began life as Elred Tidbury on his father's Ostrich farm in Cape Province, South Africa. This story follows Gray as he grows up in South Africa ends up in 1930's Hollywood as the winner of Paramount Pictures Search for the world's most beautiful man, arrives in England just in time to witness the decline of its movie industry, gets his big break just as World War II begins and finally, as a member of the celebrated King's Own Scottish Borderers, suffers a serious life-altering injury in the Normandy campaign after D Day. We cheer him on in the ten years that he sruggles to get his career back together, gets married, starts a family, and finally gets world-wide acclaim as the intrepid Mark Saber, and we suffer with him through the bad times in the poignant last years of his life. Trevor Jordan's book is not only a brilliant and interesting history of early film, radio and television in America and Great Britain, but it is also a tribute to the talent and ability of Donald Gray, and his emergence as one of the most beloved and respected entertainers of his time. Description written by Barbara Allen. Third Edition 2020 total update with more information.
310 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2013
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July 28, 2017
Poorly written. This book is desperately lacking a thousand commas. Each sentence seems to last for three lines, without a single comma to be seen. Not to mention several spelling mistakes can be found through out this book. Donald Gray, who is referred to by his birth name ‘Elred’, is misspelt ‘Fired’ for two paragraphs.
Sometimes the author, Trevor Jordan, will describe the background for a location or historical event, to give some context of what environment Donald Gray was in. This is fine most of the time. However, sometimes it goes on too long, and over six paragraphs are dedicated to describing everything, except what Donald Gray was up to.
A good example is where the author talks about Donald Gray’s claim that he was in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. As the author describes, there are no records to prove that he did take part in it. Despite this, the author felt the need to give a page and a half of information about the Berlin Olympics. Despite the fact that Jordan proves Donald Gray did not take part.
At the end of the day this biography really falls short, because you are no closer to understanding who Donald Gray was as a person, only his attributes. One of my favourite biographies, Not a Number by Rupert Booth, explores the life of actor Patrick McGoohan. Booth, while talking about the jobs that McGoohan took, also looks at who he was as a person, both his positives and short comings.
Trevor Jordan’s biography does no such thing. There is even an opportunity to discuss what Gray’s thoughts were on apartheid. However it is simply glossed over. Instead you are treated to the wonderful chapter about Captain Scarlet, where the author has copied and pasted the Wikipedia article.
Would I recommend this to anyone? No. In fact you can get the jist of Donald Gray’s life from both the Forward and Introduction of this book. In the forward, Barbra Allen, who designed the book cover, gives a small paragraph mentioning all the highlights of Gray’s life. Then Trevor Jordan, in his introduction, gives a précis of what the book is going to talk about. So you do not even need to read the whole book. Just the first three pages.
Sometimes the author, Trevor Jordan, will describe the background for a location or historical event, to give some context of what environment Donald Gray was in. This is fine most of the time. However, sometimes it goes on too long, and over six paragraphs are dedicated to describing everything, except what Donald Gray was up to.
A good example is where the author talks about Donald Gray’s claim that he was in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. As the author describes, there are no records to prove that he did take part in it. Despite this, the author felt the need to give a page and a half of information about the Berlin Olympics. Despite the fact that Jordan proves Donald Gray did not take part.
At the end of the day this biography really falls short, because you are no closer to understanding who Donald Gray was as a person, only his attributes. One of my favourite biographies, Not a Number by Rupert Booth, explores the life of actor Patrick McGoohan. Booth, while talking about the jobs that McGoohan took, also looks at who he was as a person, both his positives and short comings.
Trevor Jordan’s biography does no such thing. There is even an opportunity to discuss what Gray’s thoughts were on apartheid. However it is simply glossed over. Instead you are treated to the wonderful chapter about Captain Scarlet, where the author has copied and pasted the Wikipedia article.
Would I recommend this to anyone? No. In fact you can get the jist of Donald Gray’s life from both the Forward and Introduction of this book. In the forward, Barbra Allen, who designed the book cover, gives a small paragraph mentioning all the highlights of Gray’s life. Then Trevor Jordan, in his introduction, gives a précis of what the book is going to talk about. So you do not even need to read the whole book. Just the first three pages.
Displaying 1 of 1 review