Edgar Wallace

<BODY TEXT="BLACK" BGCOLOR="WHITE"> <P></P> <H2><I>Edgar Wallace (1875-1932)</I></H2> <P><B><I>in full Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace</I></B></P> <P> <HR> British novelist, playwright, and journalist who produced popular detective and suspense stories ans practically invented the modern "thriller". Wallace's literary output - 175 books, 15 plays, and countless articles and review sketches - have undermined his reputation as a fresh and original writer. Among Wallace's characters are J.G. Reeder, T.B. Smith, Superintendent Minter, Sanders of the Rivers, The Sooper, and Sergeant/Inspector Elk.</P> <P>Edgar Wallace was born in Greenwich, and was brought up as an adopted child in the family of Dick Freeman, a London fishporter. His parents were actors, Polly Richards and Richard Horatio Edgar Marriott, who used the false name Walter Wallace on the birth records. Young Wallace left school at the age of 12, and took menial jobs before enlisting at 18 in the Army, serving in the Royal West Kent Regiment from 1893 to 1896. </P> <P>In 1896 Wallace was sent to South Africa, where he was in the Medical Staff Corps. During this time he also began to contribute to various journals. After his discharge in 1899 he became a correspondent for Reuters and the London <I>Daily Mail</I>. He served also in 1902 as the editor of the <I>Rand Daily Mail</I> in Johannesburg before returnin to London. His first novel, THE FOUR JUST MEN, appeared in 1905, and was published by his own Tallis Press. Although the book was a huge success, Wallace lost money on it because of bad idea for publicity gimmick. It was not until the publication of SANDERS OF THE RIVER (1911), when his reputation as a writer was established. </P> <P> Wallace worked in the 1900s and 1910s in several journals, among them <I>Daily Mail </I>(1903-1907), <I>Standard </I>(1910), <I>The Week-End Racing Supplment </I>(1910-12), <I>Evening News</I> (1910-1912), <I>The Story Journal</I> (1913),<I> Town Topics </I>(1913-16). He was also later racing columnist for <I>The Star</I> (1927-32) and <I>Daily Mail</I> (1930-32). During World War I Wallace was a special interrogator for the War Office. In 1921 he married his second wife, Violet King, with whom he had one daughter. </P> <P>Wallace wrote his works at a prodigious pace, writing among others one of his most popular plays, ON THE SPOT (1931), in four days. His autobiography, PEOPLE; EDGAR WALLACE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A PHENOMENON, appeared in 1926. During the 1920s and '30s Wallace was the most popular mystery writer in Europe and in the United States. He made a great deal of money from his writings, and lost it because of his extravagant lifestyle and betting on the wrong horses. Hundreds of films have been made from his novels and short stories, also plays and television series in 1959. </P> <P>Wallace died on February 10, 1932, en route to Hollywood to work on the screenplay for <I>King Kong</I>. </P> <P><B>For further reading:</B> <I>Edgar Wallace, the Biography of a Phenomenon</I> by Margaret Lane (1964)</P> <P><B>Selected works:</B> </P> <UL> <LI>THE MISSION THAT FAILED!, 1898 (verse)</LI> <LI>NICHOLSON'S NEK, 1900 (verse)</LI> <LI>WAR!, 1900 (verse)</LI> <LI>WRIT IN BARRACKS, 1900 (verse)</LI> <LI>THE FOUR JUST MEN, 1905 - Neljä oikeudentekijää </LI> <LI>THE COUNCIL OF JUSTICE, 1908</LI> <LI>ANGEL ESQUIRE, 1908</LI> <LI>PRIVATE SHELBY, 1909</LI> <LI>CAPTAIN TATHAM OF TATHAM ISLAND, 1909 - Nelistävän kullan saari</LI> <LI>THE NINE BEARS, 1910</LI> <LI>SANDERS OF THE RIVER, 1911 - Sandi. Kertomuksia joelta </LI> <LI>THE PEOPLE OF THE RIVER, 1912 - Joen kansa</LI> <LI>THE FOURTH PLAGUE, 1913</LI> <LI>BOSAMBO OF THE RIVER, 1914 - Bosambo</LI> <LI>LIEUTENANT BONES, 1915 - Luutnantti Romuluu </LI> <LI>THE STORY OF A FATAL PEACE, 1915</LI> <LI>A DEBT OF DISCHARGE, 1916</LI> <LI>THE SECRET HOUSE, 1917</LI> <LI>THE MAN WHO KNEW, 1918 - Mies, joka tiesi </LI> <LI>THE GREEN RUST, 1919</LI> <LI>THE DAFFODIL MYSTERY, 1920</LI> <LI>BONES IN LONDON, 1921 - Romuluu Lontoossa</LI> <LI>THE CRIMSON CIRCLE, 1922 - Punainen ympyrä </LI> <LI>SANDI, THE KING-MAKER, 1922 - Sandi kuninkaantekijä</LI> <LI>THE GREEN ARCHER, 1923 - Vihreä jousimies</LI> <LI>ROOM 13, 1924 - Huone N:o 13</LI> <LI>THE THREE OAK MYSTERY, 1924 - Kolmen tammen salaisuus</LI> <LI>THE FACE IN THE NIGHT, 1924 - Hämärän huoneen arvoitus</LI> <LI>THE GAUNT STRANGER, 1925 - Kostaja</LI> <LI>THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG, 1925 - Sammakon salaperäinen seura</LI> <LI>THE SQUARE EMERALD, 1926 - Smaragdi</LI> <LI>THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS, 1926</LI> <LI>THE MILLION DOLLAR STORY, 1926 - Miljoonan dollarin juttu</LI> <LI>PEOPLE; EDGAR WALLACE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A PHENOMENON, 1926</LI> <LI>THE SQUEKER, 1927 - Petturi</LI> <LI>BIG FOOT, 1927</LI> <LI>THE MIXER, 1927 - Yllättäjä</LI> <LI>TERROR KEEP, 1927 - Kauhujen linna</LI> <LI>THE DOUBLE, 1927</LI> <LI>THE FLYING SQUAD, 1928 </LI> <LI>THE TWISTER,1928 - Öljyä ja timantteja</LI> <LI>AGAIN SANDERS, 1928 - ROMULUU JA MEHILÄINEN</LI> <LI>THE GREEN RIBBON, 1929</LI> <LI>THE TERROR, 1930</LI> <LI>THE CLUE OF THE SILVER KEY, 1930 - Hopea-avaimen arvoitus</LI> <LI>THE INDIAN RUBBER MEN, 1930 - Kuminaamarimiehet</LI> <LI>ON THE SPOT, 1931</LI> <LI>COAT OF ARMS, 1931 - Sketchleyn kummitus</LI> <LI>THE FRIGHTENED LADY, 1932</LI> <LI>WHEN THE GANG COMES TO LONDON, 1932</LI> <LI>THE LAST ADVENTURE, 1934</LI> <LI>THE UNDISCLOSED CLIENT, 1962</LI> <LI>THE MAN WHO MARRIED HIS COOK AND OTHER STORIES, 1976</LI> <LI>TWO STORIES, AND THE SEVENTH MAN, 1981</LI> <LI>THE SCOOPER AND OTHERS, 1984</LI> </UL> <P><B>Screenplays:</B> <I>Nurse and Martyr </I>(1915); <I>The Ringer</I> (1928); <I>Valley of the Ghosts</I> (1928); <I>The Forger</I> (1928); <I>Red Aces</I> (1929); <I>The Squeaker </I>(1930); <I>Should a Doctor Tell? </I>(1930); <I><A HREF="acdoyle.htm">The Hound of the Baskervilles</A></I> (1931, with V. Gareth Gundrey); <I>The Old Man</I> (1931); <I>King Kong</I> (1933, with others, based on a story by Merian C. Cooper and Wallace, although his contribution might have ben minimal)</P> <P>Wallacelta on suomennettu nelisenkymmentä teosta.</P> <P> <HR> </P> <P><A HREF="huhtikuu.htm">Takaisin - Back<BR> </A><A HREF="calendar.htm" target="_top">Reload the calendar's front page</A></P> <P ALIGN="center"> <HR> <I><FONT SIZE="-1">Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto © 1997</FONT></I> </P> <BR> <P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="http://cgi.sci.fi/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?ft=3&dd=B&df=kirjasto.sci.fi.calendar.htm"></P> </BODY> </HTML>