Richard Gordon

Richard Gordon (born Gordon Stanley Benton, 15 September 1921 – 11 August 2017, also known as Gordon Stanley Ostlere), was an English ship's surgeon and anaesthetist. As Richard Gordon, Ostlere wrote numerous novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine. He was best known for a long series of comic novels on a medical theme beginning with Doctor in the House, and the subsequent film, television, radio and stage adaptations. His The Alarming History of Medicine was published in 1993, and he followed this with The Alarming History of Sex.

Life and work Gordon was born in Paddington, London. He had an uncredited role as an anaesthetist in the film. Doctor at Sea came out the following year, with Brigitte Bardot in the cast. Dirk Bogarde starred as Dr. Simon Sparrow in both. The later spin-off TV series were written by British comedy writers. In 1974, he walked off the set of This is Your Life when Eamonn Andrews appeared with the red book. He later changed his mind and the show was transmitted a week later.

Partial bibliography

Doctor in the House. London: Joseph, 1952 Doctor at Sea. London: Joseph, 1953 The Captain's Table. London: Joseph, 1954 Doctor at Large. London: Joseph, 1955 Doctor in Love. London. Joseph, 1957 Doctor and Son. London: Joseph, 1959 Doctor in Clover. London: Joseph, 1960 Doctor on Toast. London: Joseph, 1961 Doctor in the Swim. London: Joseph, 1962 The Summer of Sir Lancelot. Heinemann, 1963 Love and Sir Lancelot. Heinemann, 1965 Doctor on the Boil. Heinemann, 1970 Doctor on the Brain. Heinemann, 1972 Doctor in the Nude. Heinemann, 1973 Doctor on the Job. Heinemann, 1976 Doctor in the Nest. Heinemann, 1979 Doctors' Daughters. Heinemann, 1981 Doctor on the Ball. Hutchinson, 1985 Doctor in the Soup. Century, 1986 The Last of Sir Lancelot. Hale, 1999 Nuts in May. Heinemann, 1964 The Facemaker. Heinemann, 1967 Surgeon at Arms. Heinemann, 1968 The Facts of Life. Heinemann, 1969 The Medical Witness. Heinemann, 1971 The Sleep of Life. Heinemann, 1975 The Invisible Victory. Heinemann, 1977 The Private Life of Florence Nightingale. Heinemann, 1978 The Private Life of Jack the Ripper. Heinemann, 1980 The Private Life of Doctor Crippen. Heinemann, 1981 Dr. Gordon's Casebook (diary). Severn House, 1982 Great Medical Disasters, Hutchinson, 1983 Great Medical Mysteries. Hutchinson, 1984 The Bulldog and the Bear: A Play in Two Acts. Samuel French, 1984 The Alarming History of Medicine, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1993 The Literary Companion to Medicine: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1993 An Alarming History of Famous and Difficult Patients. St. Martin's Press, 1997