| The Toff | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Black Circle (1933) |
| Last appearance | The Toff and the Dead Man's Finger (1978) by William Vivian Butler |
| Created by | John Creasey |
| Portrayed by | John Bentley (film) Robert Burnard (radio) Terence Alexander (radio) Michael Johnson (theatre) |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Richard Rollison |
| Alias | Bernard Brown |
| Nickname | The Toff Rolly Mr. Ar |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Aristocrat Amateur sleuth |
| Origin | Cambridge |
| Nationality | British |
In the series of adventure novels by John Creasey, the Toff is the nickname of the Honourable Richard Rollison, an upper-class crime sleuth.[1] 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, although Creasey's other character The Baron bears an even closer resemblance. Unlike Templar and The Baron, 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. 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 as at home in upper-crust society circles as he is in the East End of London.
- ^ "Toff" is British English slang for an ostentatiously idle young man of the upper classes, hence the name.