Patricia Highsmith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patricia Highsmith
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Publicity photo from 1962
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| Born | Mary Patricia Plangman January 19, 1921 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | February 4, 1995 (aged 74) Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland |
| Pen name | Claire Morgan (1952) |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
| Language | English |
| Education | Julia Richman High School |
| Alma mater | Barnard College (BA) |
| Period | 1942–1995 |
| Genre | Suspense, psychological thriller, crime fiction, romance |
| Literary movement | Modernist literature |
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Patricia Highsmith (born January 19, 1921 – died February 4, 1995) was an American writer. She was famous for her psychological thrillers. These are stories that explore the minds of characters and create a lot of tension. She also wrote a popular series of five novels about a character named Tom Ripley.
Patricia Highsmith wrote 22 novels and many short stories. Her career lasted almost 50 years. More than 24 movies have been made from her books. Her writing often looked at ideas about who we are and what is right or wrong. Another writer, Graham Greene, called her "the poet of apprehension." This means she was good at writing about feelings of worry and fear.
Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, became a play and a movie. The most famous movie was made in 1951 by Alfred Hitchcock. Her 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley has also been made into movies many times. She also wrote a book called The Price of Salt in 1952. She used the pen name Claire Morgan for this book. It was special because it was one of the first stories about a lesbian couple with a happy ending. It was later re-released as Carol under her real name and became a movie in 2015.
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Patricia Highsmith's Early Life
Patricia Highsmith was born Mary Patricia Plangman in Fort Worth, Texas. She was the only child of two artists. Her parents divorced just ten days before she was born.
In 1927, Patricia, her mother, and her stepfather, Stanley Highsmith, moved to New York City. Her mother had married Stanley in 1924. When Patricia was 12, she lived with her grandmother in Fort Worth for a year. She called this her "saddest year" and felt "abandoned." She later moved back to New York to live with her mother and stepfather. They lived mostly in Manhattan and also in Astoria, Queens.
Patricia's grandmother taught her to read when she was very young. She used her grandmother's large library often. When she was nine, she read a book called The Human Mind. She felt that the stories in the book were like her own thoughts.
Many of Patricia Highsmith's novels were set in Greenwich Village. She lived there from 1940 to 1942. In 1942, she graduated from Barnard College. She studied writing, playwriting, and short stories there. After college, she tried to get a job at many famous magazines. But she was not successful.
In 1948, Patricia Highsmith went to Yaddo. This is a special place where artists can work. She worked on her first novel, Strangers on a Train, there.
Patricia Highsmith's Personal Life
Patricia Highsmith often felt sad or down throughout her life. Even with her writing success, she wrote in her diary that she felt "lonely, depressed, and totally pessimistic." She had some health issues later in life.
She often said she liked animals more than people. In an interview in 1991, she said, "I choose to live alone because my imagination functions better when I don't have to speak with people."
Some people found Highsmith difficult. Her U.S. publisher, Otto Penzler, said she could be "mean" and "unloving." But he also said her books were "brilliant." Other friends and publishers had different views. Editor Gary Fisketjon said she was "very rough" but also "dryly funny." Composer David Diamond said she was a "depressed person." Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, who adapted one of Highsmith's books, said Patricia was "very sweet" and "wonderfully funny."
Patricia Highsmith loved cats. She also kept about 300 snails in her garden in England. Once, she even brought a hundred snails to a party in a large handbag! She said they were her "companions."
She also enjoyed woodworking and made furniture. Patricia Highsmith worked very hard and wrote constantly. She wrote 22 novels and 8 books of short stories. These were very popular, especially outside the United States. She liked to keep her personal life private.
Patricia Highsmith kept diaries and notebooks her whole life. She left behind 8,000 pages of handwritten notes.
Her Passing
Patricia Highsmith passed away on February 4, 1995. She was 74 years old. She died in Locarno, Switzerland, where she had lived since 1982. She was cremated, and her ashes were buried in a special place in Tegna.
She left her money and future book earnings to the Yaddo colony. This was the place where she wrote her first novel. She also left her writings to the Swiss Literary Archives in Switzerland.
Patricia Highsmith's Writing Career
Writing for Comic Books
After college, Patricia Highsmith wrote for comic book companies. This was from 1942 to 1948. She lived in New York City and Mexico during this time. She answered an ad for a "reporter/rewrite" job. She started writing two comic book stories a day. Soon, she realized she could earn more money by writing comics as a freelancer. This gave her time to work on her own short stories. This comic book job was the only long-term job she ever had.
She wrote stories for many comic books. These included "Sergeant Bill King," Black Terror, and Fighting Yank. She also wrote profiles for "Real Life Comics." Later, she wrote for Timely Comics and Fawcett Publications. She created stories for characters like "Jap Buster Johnson" and "The Destroyer." She also wrote for True Comics, Captain Midnight, and Western Comics.
Her Early Novels and Short Stories
Patricia Highsmith's first novel, Strangers on a Train, was published in 1950. It was quite successful. Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 movie based on the book made her even more famous.
Her second novel, The Price of Salt, came out in 1952. She used the pen name Claire Morgan for it. This book was special because it had a happy ending for its lesbian characters. This was very new for the time. The book sold almost one million copies. In 1990, Highsmith finally said she wrote the book. It was re-released as Carol. The Price of Salt is also the only one of her novels where no violent crime happens.
Her short stories first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in the early 1950s.
Her last novel, Small g: a Summer Idyll, was not accepted by her usual publisher before she died. It was published after her death in the United Kingdom in 1995. It came out in the United States nine years later.
The "Ripliad" Series
In 1955, Highsmith wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley. This novel is about Tom Ripley, a charming but dangerous character. He kills a rich man and takes his identity. Highsmith wrote four more books about Tom Ripley. These are Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley's Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980), and Ripley Under Water (1991). These books follow Ripley's adventures as a con artist and killer who always manages to escape justice. This series is called "The Ripliad" and is some of Highsmith's most popular work.
Tom Ripley is Highsmith's most famous character. He is often seen as polite and smart, but also a cold-blooded killer. People have called him a "dapper sociopath" and an "agreeable psychopath."
The first three "Ripley" books have been made into movies five times. A TV series based on the novels is also being developed.
Awards and Honors for Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith received many awards for her writing:
- 1979: Grand Master, Swedish Crime Writers' Academy
- 1987: Prix littéraire Lucien Barrière, Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville
- 1989: Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, French Ministry of Culture
- 1993: Best Foreign Literary Award, Finnish Crime Society
- 2008: Greatest Crime Writer, The Times
Other Awards and Nominations
- 1946: O. Henry Award, Best First Story, for The Heroine
- 1951: Nominee, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Best First Novel, for Strangers on a Train
- 1956: Edgar Allan Poe Scroll (special award), for The Talented Mr. Ripley
- 1957: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International, for The Talented Mr. Ripley
- 1963: Nominee, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Best Short Story, for The Terrapin
- 1963: Special Award, Mystery Writers of America, for The Terrapin
- 1964: Silver Dagger Award, Best Foreign Novel, for The Two Faces of January
- 1975: Prix de l'Humour noir Xavier Forneret for L'Amateur d'escargots (English title: Eleven)
Movies, TV Shows, Plays, and Radio Shows Based on Her Work
Many of Patricia Highsmith's stories have been made into other forms of media. Sometimes, they have been adapted more than once. In 1978, Highsmith was the head of the jury at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival.
Films
- 1951: Strangers on a Train became a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
- 1963: The Blunderer was made into the French film Le meurtrier (The Murderer).
- 1969: Strangers on a Train was adapted again as Once You Kiss a Stranger.
- 1977: This Sweet Sickness became the French film Dites-lui que je l'aime.
- 1978: The Glass Cell was adapted into the German film Die gläserne Zelle.
- 1981: Deep Water became the French film Eaux profondes.
- 1983: Edith's Diary was adapted into the German film Ediths Tagebuch.
- 1986: The Two Faces of January was made into a German film.
- 1987: The Cry of the Owl became the French film Le cri du hibou.
- 1987: The Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train inspired the comedy movie Throw Momma from the Train.
- 1989: A Suspension of Mercy was adapted into the German film Der Geschichtenerzähler.
- 2009: The Cry of the Owl was made into another film of the same name.
- 2014: The Two Faces of January was adapted into a film of the same name.
- 2014: A Mighty Nice Man was made into a short film.
- 2015: The Price of Salt was adapted into the film Carol.
- 2016: The Blunderer was adapted again as A Kind of Murder.
- 2022: Deep Water was adapted into a film again.
"Ripliad" Films
- 1960: The Talented Mr. Ripley was adapted into the French film Plein soleil (Purple Noon).
- 1977: Ripley's Game and parts of Ripley Under Ground were adapted into the German film Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend).
- 1999: The Talented Mr. Ripley was adapted into an American film.
- 2002: Ripley's Game was adapted into a film of the same name.
- 2005: Ripley Under Ground was adapted into a film of the same name.
- 2020: Ripley is an upcoming American TV series based on the books.
Television Shows
- 1958: Strangers on a Train was adapted for an episode of the TV series 77 Sunset Strip.
- 1982: Scenes from the Ripley novels were shown in an episode of The South Bank Show.
- 1983: Deep Water was adapted into a two-part German TV miniseries called Tiefe Wasser.
- 1987: The Cry of the Owl was adapted for German television as Der Schrei der Eule.
- 1990: The TV series Mistress of Suspense was based on Highsmith's stories.
- 1993: The Tremor of Forgery was adapted into the German TV film Trip nach Tunis.
- 1995: Little Tales of Misogyny was adapted into a Spanish/Catalan TV film.
- 1996: Strangers on a Train was adapted for TV as Once You Meet a Stranger. The main characters' genders were changed.
- 1996: A Dog's Ransom was adapted into the French TV film La rançon du chien.
Theatre Plays
- 1998: The Talented Mr. Ripley was adapted for the stage by Phyllis Nagy.
- 2013: Strangers on a Train was adapted into a play by Craig Warner.
Radio Dramas
- 2002: A four-episode radio drama of The Cry of the Owl was broadcast by BBC Radio 4.
- 2009: All five "Ripliad" books were made into radio dramas by BBC Radio 4.
- 2014: A five-part radio drama of Carol (The Price of Salt) was broadcast by BBC Radio 4.
- 2019: Selected short stories were broadcast by BBC Radio 4.
Books and Films About Patricia Highsmith
- Novels
- The Crime Writer (2016) by Jill Dawson.
- Films
- Highsmith: Her Secret Life (2004), a TV documentary by Hugh Thomson.
- Loving Highsmith (2022), a documentary film by Eva Vitija.
- Plays
- Switzerland (2015) by Joanna Murray-Smith.
See Also
In Spanish: Patricia Highsmith para niños
- Ruth Rendell: Another "mistress of suspense" writer. Highsmith admired her work.
