Peter Godfrey(1917-1992)
- Writer
Peter Godfrey's short story,Wanton Murder,formed the basis of La fille aux bas noirs (1957)
starring Anne Bancroft. He was born in South Africa where he was a prominent
writer, playwright and broadcaster in the 1950s. He was also well-known
to mystery story fans in the USA. He was three times winner of the
international Ellery Queen Awards and was at that time rated by the New
York Times as one of the top ten best thriller writers in the world. He
was also a well-known journalist as editor of the West African editions
of Drum Magazine - the Time Magazine of Africa. His staunch opposition
to apartheid led to his exile to London in 1962. Ultimately he retired
as a journalist on the London Times and on his death in 1992 left a
legacy of more than 1,000 published short stories. Wanton Murder was
one of an anthology of his works set in the shadow of Table Mountain in
Cape Town, a book titled Death Under the Table. The fictional murders
took place in the Atlantic resort town of Muizenburg in the Cape's
False Bay, but was depicted in the film as a spa town in Utah.
