In the series of adventure novels by John Creasey

John Creasey

John Creasey MBE was an English crime and science fiction writer. The author of more than 600 novels, he published them using 28 different pseudonyms, including Anthony Morton, Michael Halliday, Kyle Hunt, J.J. Marric, Jeremy York, Richard Martin, Peter Manton, Norman Deane, Gordon Ashe, Henry St...

, the Toff is the nickname of the Honourable Richard Rollison, an upper-class crime sleuth. Creasey published almost 60 Toff adventures, beginning with Introducing the Toff in 1938 and continuing through The Toff and the Crooked Copper, published in 1977, four years after the author's death.

Rollison is in many ways similar to Simon Templar

Simon Templar

Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...

, although Creasey's other character The Baron bears an even closer resemblance. Unlike Templar, Rollison has no earlier life of crime, although he frequently breaks or bends the law in pursuing his investigations.

Rollison's calling card includes a caricature of a toff — a line drawing with a top hat, monocle, bow-tie and cigarette with a holder

Cigarette holder

A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...

. His flat includes a trophy wall, on which is a memento of every case Rollison helped to solve.

In these stories Rollison is moderately well-known, as his exploits are frequently reported in the newspapers. He is equally at home in upper-crust society circles as he is in the East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

.

Richard Rollison

The Toff is a wealthy bachelor living in a Mayfair

Mayfair

Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...

 flat at 22 Gresham Terrace. Although the settings of the stories keep up with the times, Rollison himself maintains an age of roughly 40 throughout. He is described as over six feet tall, with dark hair. Rollison's friends refer to him as Rolly, and acquaintances from the East End refer to him as "Mr. Ar".

Jolly

Jolly is Rollison's valet, as well as a partner is his investigations. He is described as dour and sad-looking, and is in every way the proper gentleman's gentleman.

Superintendent William "Bill" Grice

Superintendent Bill Grice of Scotland Yard shows respect for Rollison's abilities and contributions, but nonetheless complains about his methods. Grice bears a scar on his face from a case in which Rollison was involved.

Richard Shuttleworth

Shuttleworth owns the stables at the end of Shoreditch Lane. He also acts as Rollison's apprentice in many novels.

William "Bill" Ebbut

Bill Ebbut is the proprietor of the Blue Dog Gymnasium, in which he trains fighters, and The Sailor's Arms public house. Ebbut frequently provides trustworthy men to act as guards or trail suspects. In The Toff and the Golden Boy, Ebbut is described as follows:

He had a big head, pendulous jowls, no neck to speak of, and a huge chest merging into a mammoth waist-line. All the time he breathed, he wheezed.

Lady Gloria Hurst

Lady Gloria Hurst is Rollison's aunt. Her home is the Marigold Club, where she takes in women requiring temporary assistance. She occasionally protects women involved in Rollison's adventures.

Adaptations

Two films have been made from Toff adventures: Salute the Toff

Salute the Toff

Salute the Toff is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Carol Marsh. The film was based on the 1941 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the sixth in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollison, also known as "The Toff"...

and Hammer the Toff

Hammer the Toff

Hammer the Toff is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Patricia Dainton. The film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the 17th in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollison, also known as "The Toff"...

(both 1952); as well as BBC Radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 adaptations starring Terence Alexander

Terence Alexander

Terence Joseph Alexander was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama Bergerac.-Early life and career:...

, The Toff and the Runaway Bride (1975) and The Toff on the Farm

The Toff on the Farm

The Toff on the Farm is a 1958 mystery novel by John Creasey featuring his character the Honourable Richard Rollison, aka 'The Toff'.-Plot:...

(1977).