Royal Air Force  

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-'''Harry Alan Towers''' ([[October 19]], [[1920]] - [[July 31]], [[2009]]) was a London born [[radio]] and [[film producer]] and [[screenwriter]], who produced over a hundred feature films and who continued to write and produce well into his eighties. 
-He sometimes used the [[pseudonym]] '''Peter Welbeck'''. The son of a theatrical agent he became a child actor, then became a prolific radio writer while serving in the [[Royal Air Force]] during World War II. In 1946 he and his mother Margaret Miller Towers started a company called Towers of London that sold various syndicated radio shows around the world, including ''[[The Lives of Harry Lime]]'' and ''[[The Black Museum]]'' with [[Orson Welles]], ''The Secrets of Scotland Yard'' with [[Clive Brook]], ''Horatio Hornblower'' in which [[Michael Redgrave]] played the famous [[Horatio Hornblower|character]] created by [[C.S. Forester]], and a series based on the [[Sherlock Holmes]] stories, featuring [[Sir John Gielgud]] as Holmes, [[Sir Ralph Richardson]] as [[Dr. Watson|Watson]], and Orson Welles as [[Professor Moriarty]]. Sir John's brother, [[Val Gielgud]], directed several episodes. Many of these were sold to and played by [[Radio Luxembourg]].+The '''Royal Air Force''' ('''RAF''') is the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[air force]], the oldest independent air force in the world.
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-Based on his radio success, in the mid 1950s he produced television shows for [[ITV]] such as ''[[Armchair Theatre]]'', ''The Golden Fleece'', ''The Boy About the Place'', ''Teddy Gang'', ''The Lady Asks for Help'', ''[[The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel|The Scarlet Pimpernel]]'', ''The Suicide Club'', ''The Little Black Book'', ''The New Adventures of Martin Kane'', ''A Christmas Carol'', ''24 Hours a Day'', ''Down to the Sea'', ''Gun Rule'', and many others.+
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-Towers then went into producing and sometimes writing feature films beginning in 1962. Towers filmed in various countries such as South Africa, Ireland, Hong Kong, Bulgaria and others. A number of his films and scripts were based on the works of [[Sax Rohmer]] (''[[Fu Manchu]]'', ''[[Sumuru]]''), [[Agatha Christie]] (''[[And Then There Were None (1974 film)|And Then There Were None]]'' and the [[Miss Marple]] series) and the works of [[Edgar Wallace]]. +
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-He collaborated with [[Jesus Franco]] during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was married to the actress [[Maria Rohm]] who appeared in many of his movies and survives him. +
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-''[[Lobster (magazine)|Lobster Magazine]]'' in 1983, ran an article citing many reliable sources, alleging Towers' links with (among others) [[Stephen Ward]], [[Peter Lawford]], the [[Soviet Union]], and a vice ring at the [[United Nations]]. Hearst Corporation newspapers had already mentioned Towers' name in a 1963 article featuring coded references to a liaison between a pre-White House [[John F Kennedy]] and a known prostitute [[Mariella Novotny]].+
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-He died after a short illness in hospital in Canada on 31 July 2009.+
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-==Further reading==+
-The book ''[[Immoral Tales: European Sex and Horror Movies 1956-1984]]'' (1994) by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs dedicates an entry to him.+
-== Filmography ==+
-=== Director ===+
-* [[The Face of Fu Manchu]] (1965)+
-* [[The Brides of Fu Manchu]] (1966)+
-* [[Five Golden Dragons]] (1967)+
-* [[Rocket to the Moon]] (1967)+
-* [[The Vengeance of Fu Manchu]] (1967)+
-* [[Ruf der Wildnis]] (1972)+
-* [[Ten Little Niggers]] (1974)+
-* [[Zanna bianca]] (1974)+
-* [[Il richiamo del lupo]] (1975)+
-* [[Lightning - the White Stallion]] (1986)+
-* [[Ten Little Indians]] (1989)+
-* [[Return to the Lost World]] (1992)+
-* [[The Lost World]] (1992)+
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-===Producer===+
-* [[The Face of Fu Manchu]] (1965)+
-* [[The Brides of Fu Manchu]] (1966)+
-* [[Five Golden Dragons]] (1967)+
-* [[Rocket to the Moon]] (1967)+
-* [[The Vengeance of Fu Manchu]] (1967)+
-*[[Count Dracula]] (1970) (?)+
-* [[Ruf der Wildnis]] (1972)+
-* [[Treasure Island]] (1972)+
-* [[Ten Little Niggers]] (1974)+
-* [[Lightning - the White Stallion]] (1986)+
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The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world.



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