Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich the fourth best

crime writer Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

of his day, behind Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

Biography

Woolrich was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His parents separated when he was young, and he lived for a time in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

with his father before returning to New York to live with his mother, Claire Attalie Woolrich. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

but left in 1926 without graduating when his first novel, ''Cover Charge'', was published. As Eddie Duggan observes, "Woolrich enrolled at New York's Columbia University in 1921 where he spent a relatively undistinguished year until he was taken ill and was laid up for some weeks. It was during this illness (a ''Rear Window''–like confinement involving a gangrenous foot, according to one version of the story) that Woolrich started writing, producing ''Cover Charge'', which was published in 1926." Eddie Dugganbr>(1999) 'Writing in the darkness: the world of Cornell Woolrich' ''CrimeTime'' 2.6 pp. 113–126.
/ref> ''Cover Charge'' was one of his

Jazz Age The Jazz Age was a period from 1920 to the early 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles gained worldwide popularity. The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz. Originating in New O ...

novels inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. A second short story, "Children of the Ritz", won Woolrich the first prize of $10,000 the following year in a competition organised by College Humor and First National Pictures; this led to his working as a screenwriter in Hollywood for First National Pictures. While in Hollywood, Woolrich explored his sexuality, apparently engaging in what Francis M. Nevins Jr. describes as "promiscuous and clandestine homosexual activity" and by marrying Violet Virginia Blackton, the 21-year-old daughter of J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of the

Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

studio. Failing in both his attempt at marriage and at establishing a career as a screenwriter (the unconsummated marriage was annulled in 1933; Woolrich garnered no screen credits), Woolrich sought to resume his life as a novelist: When he turned to pulp and

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

, Woolrich's output was so prolific his work was often published under one of his many pseudonyms. For example, "William Irish" was the byline in ''Dime Detective Magazine'' (February 1942) on his 1942 story "It Had to Be Murder", source of the 1954

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

movie ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery film, mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes, based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "After-Dinner Story, It Had to Be Murder". Originally released ...

'' and itself based on H.G. Wells' short story "Through a Window".

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

filmed Woolrich's '' The Bride Wore Black'' and ''Waltz into Darkness'' in 1968 and 1969, respectively, the latter as '' Mississippi Mermaid''. Ownership of the copyright in Woolrich's original story "It Had to Be Murder" and its use for ''Rear Window'' was litigated before the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in '' Stewart v. Abend'', 495 U.S. 207 (1990). He returned to New York, where he and his mother moved into the Hotel Marseilles (Broadway and West 103rd Street on Manhattan's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

). Eddie Duggan observes that " though his writing made him wealthy, Woolrich and his mother lived in a series of seedy hotel rooms, including the squalid Hotel Marseilles apartment building in Harlem ic among a group of thieves, prostitutes and lowlifes that would not be out of place in Woolrich's dark fictional world." Woolrich lived there until his mother's death on October 6, 1957, which prompted his move to the slightly more upscale Hotel Franconia (20 West 72nd Street near Central Park). Duggan wrote: In later years, he socialized on occasion in Manhattan bars with

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

colleagues and younger fans such as writer Ron Goulart. He moved later to the Sheraton-Russell on Park Avenue and became a virtual recluse. In his 60s, with his eyesight failing, lonely, wracked by guilt over his homosexuality, tortured by self-doubt, alcoholic and a diabetic, Woolrich neglected himself to such a degree that he allowed a foot infection to become gangrenous which resulted, early in 1968, in the amputation of a leg. After the amputation and a conversion to Catholicism, Woolrich returned to the Sheraton-Russell, requiring the use of a wheelchair. Some of the staff there would take Woolrich down to the lobby so he could look out on the passing traffic. Woolrich did not attend the premiere of Truffaut's film of his novel ''The Bride Wore Black'' in 1968, even though it was held in New York City. He died September 25, 1968. Woolrich bequeathed his estate of about $850,000 to Columbia University to endow scholarships in his mother's memory for writing students. His papers are also kept at the

Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources ...

Bibliography

Most of Woolrich's books are out of print, and new editions were slow to come out because of estate issues. However, new collections of his short stories were issued in the early 1990s. As of February 3, 2020, the Faded Page has seven titles available as

ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

in Canada; these may be still under copyright elsewhere. In 2020 and 2021, Otto Penzler's "American Mystery Classics" series released new editions of ''Waltz into Darkness'' and ''The Bride Wore Black'' in both hardcover and paperback. In January 2025, a

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

complete novels edition for countries where his work falls in the

has been released by Delphi Classics. Woolrich died leaving fragments of an unfinished novel, titled ''The Loser''; fragments have been published separately and also collected in '' Tonight, Somewhere in New York'' (2005).

Novels

Short fiction collections

Selected films based on Woolrich's fiction

* '' Manhattan Love Song'' (1934) (based on the novel), directed by Leonard Fields * ''

Convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

'' (1938) (based on the short story "Face Work"), directed by Leon Barsha * '' Street of Chance'' (1942) (based on the novel ''The Black Curtain''), directed by

Jack Hively Jack Hively (September 5, 1910 – December 19, 1995) was an American film editor and film and television director whose career lasted from the 1930s through the 1980s. His father and his brother were also film editors. He began as a film editor ...

* '' The Leopard Man'' (1943) (novel ''Black Alibi''), directed by

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

* '' Phantom Lady'' (1944) (based on the novel), directed by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German Jewish film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was ...

* '' The Mark of the Whistler'' (1944) (based on the story "Dormant Account"), directed by William Castle * '' Deadline at Dawn'' (1946) (based on the novel), the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman * '' Black Angel'' (1946) (based on the novel), directed by

Roy William Neill Roy William Neill (born Roland de Gostrie, 4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American film director best known for producing and directing almost all of the Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), Sherlock Holmes films starr ...

* '' The Chase'' (1946) (based on the novel ''The Black Path of Fear''). directed by Arthur Ripley * '' Fall Guy'' (1947) (based on the story "Cocaine"), directed by

Reginald Le Borg Reginald LeBorg (born Harry Gröbel; 11 December 1902 – 25 March 1989) was an Austrian-American film director. He directed 68 films between 1936 and 1974. Film career In 1934, he moved to Hollywood, California to seek employment as a scre ...

* '' The Guilty'' (1947) (based on the story "He Looked Like Murder"), directed by John Reinhardt * '' Fear in the Night'' (1947) (based on the story "Nightmare"), directed by Maxwell Shane * '' The Return of the Whistler'' (1948) (based on the story "All at Once, No Alice"), directed by D. Ross Lederman * '' I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes'' (1948) (based on the story), directed by

William Nigh William Nigh, born Emil Kreuske (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955), was an American film Film director, director, screenwriter, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nig ...

* '' Night Has a Thousand Eyes'' (1948) (based on the novel), directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nomina ...

* '' The Window'' (1949) (based on the story "The Boy Cried Murder"), directed by Ted Tetzlaff * '' No Man of Her Own'' (1950) (based on the novel ''I Married a Dead Man''), directed by

Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American film director, director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He d ...

* '' The Earring'' (1951) (based on the story "The Death Stone"), directed by León Klimovsky * '' The Trace of Some Lips'' (1952) (based on the story "Collared"), directed by Juan Bustillo Oro * ''If I Should Die Before I Wake'' (1952), directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * '' Don't Ever Open That Door'' (1952) (an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

film based on the stories "Somebody on the Phone" and "Humming Bird Comes Home") directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''

'' (1954) (based on the story "It Had to Be Murder"), directed by

* '' Obsession'' (1954) (based on the story "Silent as the Grave"), directed by

Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (; 12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a Pro ...

* ''The Glass Eye'' (1956), directed by Antonio Santillán * '' Nightmare'' (1956) (based on the story), directed by Maxwell Shane * '' Escapade'' (1957) (based on the story "Cinderella and the Mob"), directed by

Ralph Habib Ralph Habib (Paris, 29 June 1912 – Paris, 27 June 1969) was a French film director of Lebanese people, Lebanese origin. He started his film career with Pathé. He later worked as assistant director notably Jean Dréville and Jean-Paul Le Chanoi ...

* '' Ah, Bomb!'' (1964) (based on the story ''Adventures of a Fountain Pen''), directed by

Kihachi Okamoto was a Cinema of Japan, Japanese film director who worked in several different film genre, genres. Career Born in Yonago, Tottori, Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted into the Air Force 1943 and entered World War II, an exp ...

* '' The Boy Cried Murder'' (1966) (based on the story ''The Boy Cried Murder''), directed by

George P. Breakston George Paul Breakston (January 22, 1920 – May 21, 1973) was a French-American actor, film producer, producer and film director, active in Hollywood from his days as a child actor in Andy Hardy films in the 1930s (where he played the charac ...

* '' The Bride Wore Black'' (1968) (based on the novel), directed by

* '' Mississippi Mermaid '' (1969) (based on the novel ''Waltz into Darkness''), directed by François Truffaut * ''

Kati Patang () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Asha Parekh as a woman pretending to be a widow, and her ensuing trials and tribulations opposite her charming neighbour, played by R ...

'' (1970) (based on the novel ''I Married a Dead Man''), directed by

Shakti Samanta Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films such as ''Anand Ashram'' (1977), Anusandhan /''Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981), ''Anyay Abhi ...

* '' Seven Blood-Stained Orchids'' (1972) (based on the novel ''Rendezvous in Black''), directed by

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unre ...

* '' You'll Never See Me Again'' (1973), TV Movie directed by

Jeannot Szwarc Jeannot Szwarc (21 November 1937 – 14 January 2025) was a French director known for his work in American film and television. His film credits included '' Jaws 2'', ''Somewhere in Time'', ''Supergirl'' and '' Santa Claus: The Movie''. Szwarc ...

* ''

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

'' (1974) (based on the story ''For the Rest of Her Life''), directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

* ''Gun Moll'' (1975) (based on the story "Collared"), directed by

Giorgio Capitani Giorgio Capitani (29 December 1927 – 25 March 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, ...

* '' Union City'' (1980) (based on the story "The Corpse Next Door"), directed by Marcus Reichert * '' I Married a Shadow'' (1983) (based on the novel ''I Married a Dead Man'') * '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984) (story "The Boy Who Cried Murder"), directed by Richard Franklin * '' I'm Dangerous Tonight'' (1990) (based on the story "I'm Dangerous Tonight"), directed by

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of al ...

* '' Mrs. Winterbourne'' (1996) (based on the novel "I Married a Dead Man"), directed by Richard Benjamin * ''

'' (1998) (based on the story "It Had to Be Murder"), directed by Jeff Bleckner * ''

Original Sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

'' (2001) (based on the novel ''Waltz into Darkness''), directed by Michael Cristofer * '' Four O'Clock'' (2006) (based on the story "Three O'Clock")

References

External links

*

(archived)
Cornell Woolrich radio adaptations
on ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

'' * *
Cornell Woolrich Papers
at

's Rare Book & Manuscript Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolrich, Cornell 1903 births 1968 deaths Novelists from New York City American amputees American male novelists American mystery writers Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Columbia College (New York) alumni Edgar Award winners American LGBTQ novelists 20th-century American novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American Noir writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ writers with disabilities American Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism