Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (; 6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

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 ...

. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' (, 1909), which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's 1986 musical. His 1907 novel '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room'' is one of the most celebrated locked room mysteries.

Life and career

Leroux was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1868, the illegitimate child of Marie Bidaut and Dominique Leroux, who married a month after his birth. He claimed an illustrious pedigree, including descent from

William II of England William II (; – 2 August 1100) was List of English monarchs, King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Duchy of Normandy, Normandy and influence in Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. He was less successfu ...

(in French, Guillaume le Roux), son of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, and social connections such as having been the official playmate of

Prince Philippe, Count of Paris Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. ...

at the College d'Eu in Normandy. After schooling in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and studying as a lawyer in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

(graduating in 1889), He inherited millions of francs and lived wildly until he nearly reached bankruptcy. In 1890, he began working as a

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certif ...

and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

critic for '' L'Écho de Paris''. His most important journalism came when he began working as an international correspondent for the

newspaper '' Le Matin'' in 1893. He was present at, and covered, the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

. He left journalism in 1907, after returning from covering a volcanic eruption and being immediately sent on another assignment without vacation time, and began writing fiction. In 1919, he and Arthur Bernède formed their own film company, Société des Cinéromans, publishing novels and turning them into films. He first wrote a mystery novel titled ''Le mystère de la chambre jaune'' (1907; English title: '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room''), starring the amateur detective Joseph Rouletabille. Leroux's contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the United Kingdom and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

in the United States. Leroux published his most famous work, ''The Phantom of the Opera'', as a serial in 1909 and 1910, and as a book in 1910 (with an English translation appearing in 1911). ''Balaoo'' followed in 1911, which was made into a film several times (in 1913, 1927 and 1942). Leroux was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1909. He died at age 58 in Nice, France, in 1927.

Personal life

Leroux married twice, first to Marie Lefranc from whom he separated in 1902. Following his separation, he then lived with Jeanne Cayatte from

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, with whom he had a son, Gaston, nicknamed Milinkij, and a daughter named Madeleine; they married in 1917 after Lefranc's death. In 1918, he founded a film production company, Société des Cinéromans with René Navarre, and debuted two films, ''Tue-la-Mort'' and ''Il etait deux petits enfants'', in which his daughter played the lead role.

Novels

The Adventures of Rouletabille

*1907 – ''Le mystère de la chambre jaune'' (English translation: '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room'', 1907; ''Rouletabille and The Mystery of the Yellow Room'', 2009, translated by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier, ) *1908 – ''Le parfum de la dame en noir'' (English translation: ''

The Perfume of the Lady in Black ''The Perfume of the Lady in Black'' () is a 1974 ''giallo'' film directed by Francesco Barilli. The film has no relation to the The Perfume of the Lady in Black (novel), novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux. Plot Silvia Hacherman is a succ ...

'', 1908) *1913 – ''Rouletabille chez le Tsar'' (Rouletabille and the Tsar; English translation: '' The Secret of the Night'', 1914) *1914 – ''Rouletabille à la guerre'' (Rouletabille at War) consisting of ** ''Le château noir'' (The Black Castle) ** ''Les étranges noces de Rouletabille'' (The Strange Wedding of Rouletabille;) *1917 – ''Rouletabille chez Krupp'' (English translation: '' Rouletabille at Krupp's'', 2013, by

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (25 July 1948 – 24 February 2024) was a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who published a hundred novels and over a hundred volumes of translations. His earlier books were published under the name Br ...

, ) *1921 – ''Le crime de Rouletabille'' ('' The Crime of Rouletabille''; English translation: ''The Slave Bangle'', 1925; ''The Phantom Clue'', 1926, translated by Hannaford Bennett) *1922 – ''Rouletabille chez les Bohémiens'' (Rouletabille and the Gypsies; English translation: ''The Sleuth Hound'' K 1926; ''The Octopus of Paris'' S 1927, translated by Hannaford Bennett)

Chéri Bibi

* ''Premières Aventures de Chéri-Bibi'' (1913, English translations: ''The Floating Prison'' Kand ''Wolves of the Sea'' S Translated by Hannaford Bennett in 1923) * '' Chéri-Bibi et Cécily'' (1916, English translations: ''Missing Men: The Return of Cheri-Bibi'' S ''Cheri-Bibi and Cecily'' K 1923, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''Nouvelles Aventures de Chéri-Bibi'' (1921, English translations: Part I – ''The Dark Road'', 1924; Part II – ''The Dancing Girl'' K ''Nomads of the Night'' S Translated by Hannaford Bennett 1925) * ''Le Coup d'État de Chéri-Bibi'' (1926, English translation: ''The New Idol'', Translated by Hannaford Bennett 1928)

Other novels

* ''La double vie de Théophraste Longuet'' (1903, English translations: ''The Double Life'', 1909, translated by John E. Kearney; ''The Man with the Black Feather'', 1912, translated by Edgar Jepson) * ''Le roi mystère'' (1908) * ''Le fauteuil hanté'' (1909, English translation: ''The Haunted Chair'', 1931) * ''Un homme dans la nuit'' (1910) * ''La reine de Sabbat'' (1910, English translations: Part I as ''The Midnight Lady'' K 1930; Part II as ''The Missing Archduke'' K 1931) * ''Le fantôme de l'Opéra'' (1910, English translation: ''

'', 1911) * ''Balaoo'' (1911, English translation: ''Balaoo'', 1913) * ''L' épouse du soleil'' (1912, English translation: ''The Bride of the Sun'', 1915) * ''La colonne infernale'' (1916) * ''Confitou'' (1916) * ''L' homme qui revient de loin'' (1916, English translation: ''The Man who Came Back from the Dead'', 1916) * ''Le capitaine Hyx'' (1917, English translation: ''The Amazing Adventures of Carolus Herbert'', 1922, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''La bataille invisible'' (1917, English translation: ''The Veiled Prisoner'' K 1923, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''Tue-la-mort'' (1920, English translation: ''The Masked Man'', 1929) * ''Le coeur cambriolé'' (1920, English translation: ''The Burgled Heart'', 1925; ''The New Terror'', 1926) * ''Le sept de trèfle'' (1921) * ''La poupée sanglante'' (1923, English translations: ''The Kiss That Killed'', 1934, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''La machine à assassiner'' (1923, English translation: ''The Machine to Kill'', 1934) * ''Les ténébreuses: La fin d'un monde & du sang sur la Néva'' (1924) * ''Hardis-Gras ou le fils des trois pères'' (1924, English translation: ''The Son of 3 Fathers'', 1927, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''La Farouche Aventure'' (serialized in "Le Journal" as ''La Coquette punie'', 1924; English translation: ''The Adventures of a Coquette'', 1926, translated by Hannaford Bennett) * ''La Mansarde en or'' (1925) * ''Les Mohicans de Babel'' (1926) * ''Mister Flow'' (1927, English translation: Part I as ''The Man of a Hundred Faces'' Sand ''The Queen of Crime'' K 1930; Part II as ''Lady Helena, or The Mysterious Lady'' S 1931) * ''Les Chasseurs de danses'' (1927) * ''Pouloulou'' (1990, posthumous)

Short stories

*1887 – "Le petit marchand de pommes de terre frites" *1902 – "Les trois souhaits" *1907 – "Baïouchki baïou" *1908 – "L'homme qui a vu le diable" (English translation: "In Letters of Fire", 1908) *1911 – "Le dîner des bustes" (English translation: "A Terrible Tale", 1925) *1912 – "La hache d'or" (English translation: "The Gold Axe", 1925) *1924 – "Le Noël du petit Vincent-Vincent" (English translation: "The Crime on Christmas Night", 1930) *1924 – "La femme au collier de velours" (English translation: "The Woman with the Velvet Collar", first English publication in ''Weird Tales'', October 1929) *1924 – "Not' Olympe" (English translation: "The Mystery of the Four Husbands", first English publication in ''Weird Tales'', December 1929) *1925 – "L'Auberge épouvantable" (English translation: "The Inn of Terror", first English publication In ''Weird Tales'', August 1929, Translated by Mildred Gleason Prochet)

Plays

*1908 – ''Le Lys'' (co-author: Pierre Wolff) *1913 – ''Alsace'' (co-author: Lucien Camille)

Filmography

Carl Laemmle and Gaston Leroux at the Paris Opera

** Films based on ''The Phantom of the Opera'' ** Films based on the ''Rouletabille'' novels *', directed by

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset (30 March 1862 - 22 June 1913) was an early film pioneer in France, active between the years 1905 and 1913. He worked on many genres of film and was particularly associated with the development of detective or crime Seri ...

(1913, short film, based on the novel ''Balaoo'') *''Chéri-Bibi'', directed by (1914, short film, based on the novel ''Chéri-Bibi'') *''

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

'', directed by Henri Pouctal (1916, based on the play ''Alsace'') *''L'Homme qui revient de loin'', directed by Gaston Ravel (1917, based on the novel ''L'Homme qui revient de loin'') *''La Nouvelle aurore'', directed by (1919, serial with 16 episodes, based on the novel ''Nouvelles aventures de Chéri-Bibi'') *''A halál után'', directed by

Alfréd Deésy Alfréd Deésy (22 September 1877 – 18 July 1961) was a Hungarian film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 77 films between 1915 and 1947. Deésy also appeared as an actor in 28 films between 1913 and 1960. Biography Deésy was ...

(Hungary, 1920, based on the novel ''L'Homme qui revient de loin'') *''The Lily'', directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fi ...

(1926, based on the play ''Le Lys'') *'' The Wizard'', directed by Richard Rosson (1927, based on the novel ''Balaoo'') *'' The Phantom of Paris'', directed by John S. Robertson (1931, based on the novel '' Chéri-Bibi and Cécily'') **'' Cheri-Bibi'', directed by Carlos F. Borcosque (1931), alternative Spanish-language version of ''The Phantom of Paris'' *'' Compliments of Mister Flow'', 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 ...

(1936, based on the novel ''Mister Flow'') *'' Chéri-Bibi'', directed by

Léon Mathot Léon Mathot (5 March 1886, Roubaix, Nord-Pas-de-Calais - 6 March 1968, in Paris) was a French film actor and film director best known perhaps for playing Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo (1918 series), The Count of Monte Cristo'' se ...

(1938, based on the novel ''Chéri-Bibi'') *'' Dr. Renault's Secret'', directed by

Harry Lachman Harry B. Lachman (June 29, 1886 – March 19, 1975) was an American artist, set designer, and film director. He was born in La Salle, Illinois on June 29, 1886. Lachman was educated at the University of Michigan before becoming a magazine and b ...

(1942, based on the novel ''Balaoo''), uncredited * ''

'' (1949) *'' The Man Who Returns from Afar'', directed by (1950, based on the novel ''L'Homme qui revient de loin'') *'' Chéri-Bibi'', directed by Marcello Pagliero (1955, based on the novel '' Chéri-Bibi and Cécily'') * '' Il profumo della signora in nero''/ ''The Perfume of the Lady in Black'' (1974) Italian giallo * '' Chéri-Bibi'' (1974–75, TV series, based on the ''Chéri-Bibi'' novels) *''La Poupée sanglante'', directed by Marcel Cravenne (1976, miniseries, based on the novel ''La poupée sanglante'' and its sequel, ''La machine à assassiner'') * ''

'' (2005)

Screenwriter

*', directed by René Navarre (1920, serial with 12 episodes) *'' Crossed Wires (film)'', directed by René Navarre (1921, serial with 12 episodes) *''Il était deux petits enfants'', directed by Lino Manzoni (1922)

Misattributions

''The Gaston Leroux Bedside Companion'', an anthology published in 1980 and edited by Peter Haining, as well as the Haining-edited ''The Real Opera Ghost and Other Tales By Gaston Leroux'' (Sutton, 1994), include a story attributed to Leroux entitled ''The Waxwork Museum''. A foreword alleges that the translation by Alexander Peters first appeared in ''Fantasy Book'' in 1969 (but no original French publication date is given). Neither "Alexander Peters" nor ''"Fantasy Book"'' appear to exist, and the text of the story is, in fact, a word-for-word copy of the story ''Figures de cire'' by Andre de Lorde which was published as ''Waxworks'' in the 1933 anthology ''Terrors: A Collection of Uneasy Tales,'' edited (anonymously) by Charles Birkin. The confusion has sometimes caused Leroux to be erroneously credited with the stories from the 1933 film '' Mystery of the Wax Museum'', the 1953 film '' House of Wax'' (both of which were based on a story by Charles S. Belden) or, particularly, the 1997 Italian film '' Wax Mask'' (for example, in Troy Howarth's ''Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films''). No such story by Leroux exists, though some confusion may have been the result of chapter IX in Leroux's novel ''La double vie de Théophraste Longuet,'' which is entitled, ''Le masque de cire'' (translated as ''The Wax Mask'').