Charteris, Leslie (Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin) (1907-1993). Born in Singapore to a Chinese father and English mother, Charteris was widely known for his literary brainchild, Simon Templar, nicknamed the Saint. The forerunner of James Bond, the Saint invariably turns out to be smarter and stronger than his opponents, as, for example, in the novels Meet the Tiger (Meet the Tiger, 1928), Saint in Europe (The Saint in Europe, 1953), The Saint is on the trail (The Saint in Pursuit, 1970).