His face may not be familiar, but if you are a fan of mysteries and detective novels you might already be a fan of his. Raymond Chandler was the creator of Private Detective Phillip Marlowe, famously brought to life by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep. That is how I first became aware of Chandler, although it would be many years before I would read any of his books.
Raymond Thornton Chandler was born July 23, 1888 in Chicago but spent his early life living in Nebraska before his mother took him to London after his parents' divorce. Chandler returned to the land of his birth in 1912. For the next 20 years he worked as a bookkeeper and actually worked his way up to the position of Vice President of a California oil company. This company survived the stock market crash of 1929, but his drinking and bad behavior got him fired in 1932.
Chandler took this opportunity to try his hand at writing, which had always interested him. He decided on crime fiction, but he wanted to create stories that were grittier and more true to life than the typical mystery of the time. He felt that most mystery writers put in too much information to keep the reader from figuring it out on their own. Chandler decided that a realistic approach was the one for him.
He started out writing stories for pulp magazines. Many of these short stories would be turned into full length novels. The Big Sleep (1939) was his first novel and introduced Phillip Marlowe, a wise-cracking private detective. In all there would be nine Phillip Marlowe novels. The last one, Poodle Springs, was completed by Robert B. Parker and published in 1989.
Chandler also wrote for film and radio, including the screenplay for Double Indemnity (1944) which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Despite this success in Hollywood, he had an uneasy relationship with the studios. He was probably one of the first writers who tried to have as much creative control as he could over his work. This was not popular with studio executives.
But he will be most remembered as the creator of Phillip Marlowe, the tough guy detective with a heart of gold.
Raymond Chandler Books
Raymond Chandler Films
Raymond Chandler Biographies
-- Post by Tracy
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