Edward Arno

An English Romany, I was born in a field in Frankley Beech, Birmingham, England. My father was a milkman and my mother was a house parlor maid. They met during a bombing raid at the end of the Second World War. Growing up on a council estate, I attended the local public schools. Issigonis Mini car Longbridge factory was the symphonic sound of my childhood.

In early 1970, I abandoned my mechanical engineer career in military research, entering the entertainment world to become a production Manager for the Royal Ballet. My passion for making people laugh encouraged me to form Clown Cavalcade. I wrote, directed, and performed in a string of plays based on traditional Comedia del arte, appearing in theatres all over Britain—including the Royal National Theatre in London. After performing as a clown in two short films with David Bailey, he photographed me for the European Vogue. I became the first male since Alfred Hitchcock to appear on its front cover.

After spending over a decade making people laugh, I partnered with Markus Innocenti to form Arno & Innocenti Stage Sets. The company designed and built sets for touring rock bands such as Simple Minds and Japan.

In 1983, I further branched out into designing and constructing film sets, principally for music video productions. Throughout 1983 and 1984, I oversaw the art direction of video productions for such artists as George Michael (Wham), the Eurythmics, and Big Country, just to name a few. Eventually I directed music videos for the Eurythmics, Aretha Franklin, and Bob Dylan. I also wrote and directed Willie and the Poor Boys, a 30-minute film staring Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts ,and Ron Wood, which included guest appearances from John Entwistle and Pete Townsend of The Who, and a cameo appearance from Ringo Star.

These works led me to produce and direct Celebration Jazz for The Charlie Watts Orchestra. A filmed concert featuring performances from every known artist in the British jazz scene, including Courtney Pine and Gail Thompson. The film was later shown on BBC 2 as part of 1986 Jazz Week.

With my career evolving, I signed on to one of Virgin’s production houses, The Image Factory. It was through them that I was re-located in the United States to direct a multi-camera concert film, The Seer – Live in New York City featuring the Scottish band Big Country, which was released in the home video market for Christmas 1986. The film was highly acclaimed and had an exuberant high volume of sales.

My ideas had always been a driving force and in 1987, some of them materialized. The William Morris Agency (WMA) agreed to represent me and encouraged my screenplay writing skills. WMA introduced me to producer Tom Reeve and suddenly, Murder Story went from being just a treatment to within weeks, becoming a first draft. With Contracts International and Dutch venture financers Elsevier/Vendex backing the project, the film eventually became a reality. Working in Amsterdam and Utrecht with a Dutch film crew and European-based American actors, I directed Murder Story with Christopher Lee in the title role of ‘Willard Hope’. The film was completed on time and under budget. Murder Story sold well throughout the world and was released in the US by Academy Entertainment in October 1988, and it is still available on DVD.

I continued to write screenplays: Heartbeat for producers Silvio Clementelli and Fabrizio Castellani of Clesi Cinematograpgica in Rome and for Yorkshire Television, Diplomatic Corpse, part of Roger Cheveley’s Yellow Thread Street Series 2.

After a fantastic writing and directing run, I needed a change and some inspiration so I decided to move to Scotland. After a brief spell of owning an Edinburgh nightclub, I promoted the largest all night dance rave party in Europe. I then immigrated to Los Angeles. This led to a collaboration with Maverick, Madonna’s company, on Underground Nation, a film based on my experience in the Scottish Rave scene. Following that, the Arizona desert was my next stop for Riders in the Storm and Slaughters Gold, two low budget westerns. Finally, I returned to Los Angeles and felt the urge to write mystery novels: Coronation Souvenir, It’s Murder in Down Town Burbank, Broken Masks Cracked Eggs and The Loincloth of Gethsemane.

I now reside in Burbank, California and I am an active member of the Mystery Writers of America.