Robert Westerby

Who was Robert Westerby?

Robert Westerby, was an author of novels and screenwriter for films and television.

Westerby's 1937 novel Wide Boys Never Work,a story of the criminal underworld before the Second World War, was the earliest published use of the word "wide boy". In 1956 the book was made into the British film Soho Incident. In 2008 London Books republished Wide Boys Never Work as part of their London Books classics series.

His account of his early life was entitled A Magnum for my Mother. To the British public, a magnum just meant a large bottle of champagne. However, in the USA it could suggest a type of handgun, so it was retitled Champagne for Mother.