- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCornell George Hopley-Woolrich
- Nicknames
- George Hopley
- William Irish
- Prolific mystery writer Cornell Woolrich was born in New York City, but his parents separated when he was young and he spent much of his childhood in Latin America with his father. Then he was sent back to New York to live with his rich, domineering mother, Claire. He attended Columbia University where he wrote his first novel, a Jazz Age piece published in 1926 titled "Cover Charge". Another book, "Children of the Ritz", followed in 1927. Hollywood beckoned but his time there as an (uncredited) screenwriter proved to be unhappy. A disastrous marriage to a producer's daughter failed quickly and he headed back to New York -- and Claire. He found his niche writing suspense stories for magazines such as "Argosy", "Black Mask" and "Thrilling Mystery". Sales were made to Hollywood, his reputation grew, and his bank account increased. Some called him "the Poe of the 20th century". Then his mother sank into a lengthy illness and his output fell as he devoted more and more of his time to her care. By the time she died in 1957, he was "burned out". From then until his death in 1968, he lived a lonely life marked by alcoholism and poor health (he delayed visiting a doctor when his leg started bothering him; he eventually lost it to gangrene). When he died his funeral went unattended.
He bequeathed money to Columbia to set up a creative writing course which was not named after him but after who else?-Claire.- IMDb Mini Biography By: dinky-4 of Minneapolis
- SpouseViolet Virginia Blackton(December 6, 1930 - April 21, 1933) (annulled)
- Was a loner with so few friends he rarely put dedications in his novels. He dedicated "The Bride Wore Black," which he wrote under the pseudonym William Irish, to his Remington Portable typewriter.
- Used the pseudonyms George Hopley and William Irish for some of his writing.
- Bequeathed $825,000 to his alma mater Columbia University for writing scholarships.
- After his passing in 1968, a lot of Woolrich's work remained out-of-print. Then a couple of years ago, a selection of his short stories were reprinted.
- Profiled in "Film Noir Reader", eds. A. Silver, J. Ursini.
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