British actor and writer
Wrote eleven detective novels from 1961 onwards; the first, "The Nose On My Face", was filmed in 1963 as Girl in the Headlines .
He lost the sight in one eye (after disobeying doctors orders by not resting properly) as a result of an accident during the recording of a swordfight with Basil Henson on the set of the "Sexton Blake" tale "Sexton Blake v. The Organisation" in 1968. Ironically, Payne was actually an expert fight director.
Was theatre-trained at the Old Vic School in 1939. As a conscientious objector when WWII broke out, he was exempted from military service under the proviso that he toured with the Old Vic.
Was an enthusiastic oil painter.
Was a self-taught pianist.
Son of a carpenter.Attended Belmont School and Tottenham Grammar. Lost his father aged three, and, along with his two siblings, had a strict upbringing by his methodist mother. Left school at sixteen to do clerical work. Trained for acting at the Old Vic in 1939.
