Gardner, Erle Stanley

Gardner, Erle Stanley
born July 17, 1889, Malden, Mass., U.S.
died March 11, 1970, Temecula, Calif.

U.S. detective novelist.

He dropped out of college and was admitted to the California bar after three years as a law-firm typist. While practicing trial law, he wrote pulp fiction, basing the courtroom scenes and brilliant legal maneuvers on his own tactics. He gave up law following the success in 1933 of The Case of the Velvet Claws and The Case of the Sulky Girl, his first novels featuring the lawyer-detective Perry Mason. Eighty Perry Mason novels followed. He also wrote two other series of detective stories, one under the pseudonym A.A. Fair.

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▪ American author

born July 17, 1889, Malden, Mass., U.S.
died March 11, 1970, Temecula, Calif.
 American author and lawyer who wrote nearly 100 detective and mystery novels that sold more than 1,000,000 copies each, making him easily the best-selling American writer of his time. His best-known works centre on the lawyer-detective Perry Mason.

      The son of a mining engineer, Gardner traveled extensively with his family throughout childhood. He dropped out of Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., after a brief time and settled in California, where he worked as a typist in a law firm. After three years he was admitted to the California bar (1911) and began defending poor Chinese and Mexicans as well as other clients. His interest in the friendless and unjustly accused was lifelong and led to his founding of The Court of Last Resort in the 1940s, an organization dedicated to helping men imprisoned unjustly.

      While practicing trial law in Ventura, Calif., he began writing for the pulp magazines popular at that time, creating accurate courtroom scenes and brilliant legal maneuvers resembling his own legal tactics. By 1932 he was writing more than 200,000 words a month while still working two days a week in his law practice. With the successful publication of the first Perry Mason detective stories, The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933) and The Case of the Sulky Girl (1933), however, he gave up the law. Eighty Perry Mason novels followed. Gardner later supervised the adaptation of the Perry Mason stories for radio, television, and motion pictures.

      A second series of books, built around Doug Selby, a virtuous crusading district attorney, all had titles beginning “The D.A. . . .”: The D.A. Calls It Murder (1937) and The D.A. Goes to Trial (1940). A third series, written under the pseudonym A.A. Fair, dealt with the adventures of the fat, middle-aged, greedy private detective Bertha Cool and the knowledgeable legalist Donald Lam.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gardner,Erle Stanley — Gard·ner (gärdʹnər), Erle Stanley. 1889 1970. American lawyer and detective novelist known for creating the character of Perry Mason, a clever attorney. * * * …   Universalium

  • Gardner, Erle Stanley — ► (1889 1970) Escritor estadounidense. Cultivó la novela policíaca y creó el popular personaje Perry Mason. * * * (17 jul. 1889, Malden, Mass., EE.UU.–11 mar. 1970, Temecula, Cal.). Novelista policial estadounidense. Abandonó la universidad y fue …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Gardner, Erle Stanley —  (1889–1970) American writer of crime and courtroom fiction. Note unusual spelling of first name …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — Gardner in 1966 Born July 17, 1889(1889 07 17) Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — noun writer of detective novels featuring Perry Mason (1889 1970) • Syn: ↑Gardner • Instance Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author * * * Erle Stanley Gardner [Erle Stanley Gardner] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Erle Stanley Gardner (17 de julio de 1889, Malden, Massachusetts 11 de marzo de 1970) fue un abogado y escritor estadounidense. Autor de novelas policíacas, que publicó bajo su propio nombre, y también usando los… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — (1966) Erle Stanley Gardner (* 17. Juli 1889 in Malden, Massachusetts; † 11. März 1970 in Temecula, Kalifornien) war ein US amerikanischer Schriftsteller und Rechtsanwalt, der auch unter d …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — en 1966 Erle Stanley Gardner (né le 17 juillet 1889 à Malden, Massachusetts, mort le 11 mars 1970 à Temecula, Californie), est un écrivain américain, auteur de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Erle Stanley Gardner — ➡ Gardner (II) * * * …   Universalium

  • Gardner — Gardner, Ava Gardner, Erle Stanley * * * (as used in expressions) Colton, Gardner (Quincy) Gardner, Alexander Gardner, Ava (Lavinia) Gardner, Erle Stanley …   Enciclopedia Universal

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