Harry Flashman Harry Flashman Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) in the semi-autobiographical "Tom Brown's School Days" (1857) and later developed by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008). Harry Flashman appears in a series of 12 of Fraser's books, collectively known as "The Flashman Papers", with covers illustrated by Arthur Barbosa. Flashman was played by Malcolm McDowell in the Richard Lester 1975 film "Royal Flash". In Hughes' 1857 book, Flashman (a relatively minor character) is portrayed as a notorious bully at Rugby School who persecutes Tom Brown, and who is finally expelled for drunkenness. Fraser decided to
Tom, Dick and Harry In 1948, the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate" premiered on Broadway. The show featured the song "Tom, Dick or Harry". The three escape tunnels used by allied POWs in the famous Stalag Luft III escape were named "Tom, Dick, and Harry" by the POWs. This nomenclature was carried over to the film "The Great Escape", which portrayed the event. Tom, Dick and Harry The phrase "Tom, Dick and Harry" is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people; "Tom, Dick or Harry" plays the same role for "one" unspecified person. The phrase most commonly occurs as "every Tom, Dick and Harry",