Earl Derr Biggers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Earl Derr Biggers
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| Born | August 26, 1884 Warren, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 5, 1933 (aged 48) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Playwright, novelist |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Genre | Fiction, theatre |
Earl Derr Biggers (born August 26, 1884 – died April 5, 1933) was an American writer. He wrote many novels and plays. He is most famous for creating the fictional Chinese American detective, Charlie Chan. His books about Charlie Chan became very popular movies in both the United States and China.
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About Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio. His parents were Robert J. and Emma E. Biggers. He went to Harvard University and graduated in 1907. While at Harvard, he was part of a humor magazine called The Lampoon.
Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist. Many of his stories and plays were later made into movies. After he passed away, he was honored by being added to the Warren City Schools Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.
His Early Success
One of Biggers's early popular novels was Seven Keys to Baldpate. It came out in 1913. A famous Broadway showman, George M. Cohan, quickly turned it into a hit play. Cohan even starred in a movie version of the play in 1917. This story was so popular that it was made into seven different films!
The Famous Charlie Chan Books
More than ten years after Seven Keys to Baldpate, Biggers found even greater fame. He started writing a series of detective novels about Charlie Chan. These books became incredibly popular. The movies based on Charlie Chan were loved even in China. Chinese film companies also made their own movies about this character.
Earl Derr Biggers shared where he got the idea for Charlie Chan. He said that a real-life detective named Chang Apana was his inspiration. Biggers wrote about this in a letter to the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper in 1932.
Biggers lived in San Marino, California. He passed away in a hospital in Pasadena, California, at the age of 48. He had a heart attack while in Palm Springs, California.
The Charlie Chan Series
Here are the books in the Charlie Chan detective series:
- The House Without a Key (1925)
- The Chinese Parrot (1926)
- Behind That Curtain (1928)
- The Black Camel (1929)
- Charlie Chan Carries On (1930)
- Keeper of the Keys (1932)
Other Books and Plays
Here are some of Earl Derr Biggers's other works:
- Seven Keys to Baldpate (1913)
- Love Insurance (1914); a movie version was made in 1940 called One Night in the Tropics
- Inside the Lines (1915) (written with Robert Welles Ritchie)
- The Agony Column (1916) (also known as Second Floor Mystery)
- Fifty Candles (1921)
- Earl Derr Biggers Tells Ten Stories (a collection of short stories, 1933)
See also
In Spanish: Earl Derr Biggers para niños
