s famous stick man logo came from the fact that he used to write his own comic books when he was a child and because he wasn't much of an artist he used stick men to tell his story- stick a halo over the head and you have the world famous Saint logo.It was panic stations when the world famous mystery author's small boat went missing at sea during a fierce storm in 1948. Charteris' close friend, the actor Gregory Peck was also on board.
Roger Moore was not the first choice to play Simon Templar - the producers wanted Patrick McGoohan
(The Prisoner). Interestingly McGoohan also turned down the role of James Bond.Roger Moore directed nine episodes of The Saint TV series. The fact that he had a union card from his days as an animator allowed him to do so in those union dominated times.
Of the creation of The Saint, Leslie Charteris said: Who knows where an idea comes from? The Saint was just originally a character who came to life in my head not so long after I started writing, but he was not the first character I thought of."
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McGoohan spent most all of 1960 making 'Danger Man'. The Saint came along just after that, just as Bond did (the first time). McGoohan seemed to like to do things and then do something new, so I daresay they were just bad timing from his point of view. He was happy enough to do more secret agent stuff in the revived Danger Man, four years later.
Moor - I have read that McGoohan considered both the Saint and Bond as too promiscuous
Robert S. Baker--producer of "The Saint"--has gone on record as saying that he met McGoohan at Lew Grade's request shortly after Season 1 of Danger Man had finished.
He's also gone on record as saying that they mutually agreed he wasn't right for the Saint; McGoohan thought the Saint too promiscuous and Bob thought McGoohan was just wrong for the character.
Oh sure. He said that too. But, he also said Danger Man was a bit that way, but when he got onboard he tweaked it....... :-))
So, I'm figuring if he'd *wanted* to get involved, he could've done so.....
He is quoted as saying that he saw John Drake, from Danger Man, as like a *Western* heroic figure; treating women with respect and so forth. He liked Shane I think. His fondness for the cowboy hero got an outing in The Prisoner of course, in that episode "Living in Harmony".
I suspect Leslie Charteris would have chosen as his ideal Saint someone more in the Gregory Peck line -- leaner, less full in the face but with a strong jaw. That would have fitted the descriptions in the books and the instructions that went to comic-book artists, in which Peck was specifically mentioned.
Well that's making the most of your skills!
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