ROBERT H. FABIAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/23/1953 - HFSID 56679

ROBERT FABIAN ("FABIAN OF THE YARD")
Famous British sleuth inspired early TV cop show
Typed Letter signed: "Robert H. Fabian", 1p, 8x10. London, 1953 October 23. On letterhead of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd. to E.P. McKean Smith, Night Manager, Sun Valley Operations, Sun Valley, Idaho, USA. In full: "How nice of you to write me, and I do hope that when you come to London again you will give me a ring and if at all possible I would like very much to have a couple of hours with you. There is no doubt that the Tommy Symes mentioned in my book is the same as you remember so well meeting during the war. I know he went to New Zealand and I consider he is a very sensible chap. We spent many happy and busy years together in our young days, but rather drifted in later years as he became purely an office type and I had to punch the streets and 'fetch 'em in'. I would like to thank you sincerely for forwarding his address, and I have written to him. Wishing you well in everything. Yours sincerely" . Chief Detective Inspector, later Superintendent Robert H. Fabian was a successful crime investigator for the London Metropolitan Police ("Scotland Yard"). Retiring from the force in 1949, he began to write accounts of police work in general and of his own cases. He was the model for one of the first TV police dramas, Fabian of the Yard (1954-1956), broadcast on the BBC and rebroadcast in America as Patrol Car. Actor Bruce Seton portrayed Fabian in the series, but the real Robert Fabian addressed the audience at the end of each episode. Fabian's character also inspired several feature films, including The Blue Lamp (1949).