Dail Ambler


Betty Mabel Lilian Uelmen was a British journalist, screenwriter, and pulp fiction writer who used the pen names Dail Ambler and Danny Spade. She was also known professionally as both Betty Williams and Betty Uelmen.

Life

She was born in Aldershot in Hampshire and worked as a Fleet Street journalist and correspondent before settling on a career in fiction writing. By 1950, she was publishing at least one novel a month under the Danny Spade name for pulp paperback publisher Scion Ltd; she later wrote for Milestone Publications. Her writing style and content were somewhat influenced by Mickey Spillane. After the boom in pulp fiction in the United Kingdom ended in the mid-1950s, she turned to screenwriting under the Dail Ambler name. She later lapsed into semi-retirement in Surrey, where she died at the age of 55.
She is buried under the name Dail Ambler in North Watford Cemetery in Watford, Hertfordshire.

Selected work

Books

The Dame Plays Rough by Danny SpadeWaterfront Rat by Danny SpadeCalling Mr. Spade by Danny SpadeThe Lady Says When by Dail AmblerHoney, You Slay Me by Danny SpadeWhite Curves and Black Coffee by Danny SpadeThe Virgin Collector by Dail AmblerThree Men for the Job by Dail Ambler

Film

Television