| Elmore Leonard | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 11, 1925 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Occupation | author, screenwriter |
| Genres | Pulp fiction, Westerns, crime fiction |
|
Influences
|
|
|
Influenced
|
|
Elmore John Leonard Jr. (born October 11, 1925), better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.
Among his best-known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk and Rum Punch, which was filmed as Jackie Brown. Leonard's short stories include ones that became the films 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T, as well as the current TV series on FX, Justified.
Contents |
Leonard was born in New Orleans, but because his father worked as a site locator for General Motors, the family moved frequently for several years. In 1934, the family finally settled in Detroit. Leonard has made the Detroit area his home ever since.
In the 1930s, two major events occurred that would influence many of his works. Gangsters such as Bonnie and Clyde were making national headlines, as were the Detroit Tigers baseball team. From about 1931 until they were killed in May, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were on a rampage. The Tigers made it to the World Series in 1934 while winning it in 1935. Leonard developed lifelong fascinations with both sports and guns.
He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943, and immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the south Pacific (gaining the nickname 'Dutch', after pitcher Dutch Leonard [3]). Enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1946, he pursued writing more seriously, entering his work in short story contests and sending it off to magazines. A year before he graduated, he got a job as a copy writer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising agency, a position he kept for several years and wrote on the side. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in English and Philosophy.
Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy published the short story "Trail of the Apaches".[4] During the 1950s and early 1960s, he continued writing westerns, publishing over 30 short stories. He wrote his first novel, The Bounty Hunters, in 1953 and followed this with four other novels. Two of his stories were turned into movies at this time: The Tall T and 3:10 to Yuma.
Leonard—or "Dutch," as he is sometimes called—got his first break in the fiction market during the 1950s, regularly publishing pulp western novels. He has since forayed into mystery, crime, and more topical genres, as well as screenwriting.
Leonard now lives with his family in Oakland County, Michigan.
Commended by critics for his gritty realism and strong dialogue, Leonard sometimes takes liberties with grammar in the interest of speeding along the story. In his essay "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing" he says: "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." He also hints: "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."[5]
Elmore Leonard has been called "the Dickens of Detroit" because of his intimate portraits of people from that city; however, Leonard has said, "If I lived in Buffalo, I'd write about Buffalo." [6] His ear for dialogue has been praised by writers such as Saul Bellow, Martin Amis, and Stephen King. "Your prose makes Raymond Chandler look clumsy," Amis told Leonard at a Writers Guild event in Beverly Hills in 1998.[7] Stephen King has called him "the great American writer."[8]
Many of Leonard's novels and short stories have been adapted into successful motion pictures or TV movies.
Aside from the short stories already noted, a number of Leonard's novels have been adapted as films, including Out of Sight in 1998, Get Shorty in 1995, and Rum Punch (as the 1997 film Jackie Brown). 52 Pick-Up was first adapted very loosely into the 1984 film The Ambassador, starring Robert Mitchum and two years later, under its original title, starring Roy Scheider. He has also written several screenplays based on his novels, plus original ones such as Joe Kidd.
The 1967 film Hombre starring Paul Newman was an adaptation of Leonard's novel of the same name.
His short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" and novels The Big Bounce and 52 Pick-Up have each been filmed twice.
A 2001 comedy film, Bandits, was originally meant to be an adaptation of Leonard's novel by that name, to which Bruce Willis owns the film rights. However, the producers brought in writer Harley Peyton to write a new script from scratch that bears little or no resemblance to Leonard's book.
Other novels filmed include:
Freaky Deaky is scheduled to be filmed in 2011.
The short-lived 1998 TV series Maximum Bob was based on Leonard's novel of the same name. It aired on ABC for 7 episodes and starred Beau Bridges.
The TV series Karen Sisco (2003–04) starring Carla Gugino was based on a character from Out of Sight played by Jennifer Lopez in the film version.
The 2010 FX series Justified is based around the popular Leonard character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens from the novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and the short story "Fire in the Hole."
Leonard was referenced in the television show Leverage in episode 105 "The Bank Shot Job" when Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison and Beth Riesgraf as Parker introduced themselves to police officers as FBI agents Leonard and Elmore.
| Year | Novel | Film Adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | The Bounty Hunters | |
| 1954 | The Law at Randado | 1990 - Border Shootout |
| 1956 | Escape from Five Shadows | |
| 1959 | Last Stand at Saber River | 1997 - Last Stand at Saber River |
| 1961 | Hombre | 1967 - Hombre |
| 1969 | The Big Bounce | 1969 - The Big Bounce 2004 - The Big Bounce |
| The Moonshine War | 1970 - The Moonshine War | |
| 1970 | Valdez Is Coming | 1971 - Valdez Is Coming |
| 1972 | Forty Lashes Less One | |
| 1974 | Mr. Majestyk | 1974 - Mr. Majestyk |
| 52 Pick-Up | 1984 - The Ambassador 1986 - 52 Pick-Up |
|
| 1976 | Swag | |
| 1977 | Unknown Man No. 89 | |
| The Hunted | ||
| 1978 | The Switch | |
| 1979 | Gunsights | |
| 1980 | City Primeval | |
| Gold Coast | 1997 TV film | |
| 1981 | Split Images | 1992 TV movie |
| 1982 | Cat Chaser | 1989 - Cat Chaser |
| 1983 | Stick | 1985 - Stick |
| LaBrava Edgar Award, Best Novel (1984) |
||
| 1985 | Glitz | 1988 TV film |
| 1987 | Bandits | |
| Touch | 1997 film | |
| 1988 | Freaky Deaky | |
| 1989 | Killshot | 2008 - Killshot |
| 1990 | Get Shorty | 1995 - Get Shorty |
| 1991 | Maximum Bob | 1998 TV series |
| 1992 | Rum Punch | 1997 - Jackie Brown |
| 1993 | Pronto | 1997 TV film |
| 1995 | Riding the Rap | |
| 1996 | Out of Sight | 1998 - Out of Sight 2003 - TV series Karen Sisco |
| Naked Came the Manatee (One chapter of serial novel) |
||
| 1998 | Cuba Libre | |
| Tonto Woman (One chapter of serial novel) |
||
| 1999 | Be Cool | 2005 - Be Cool |
| 2000 | Pagan Babies | |
| 2001 | Fire in the Hole | 2010 - TV series Justified |
| 2002 | When the Women Come Out to Dance Anthology (includes Fire in the Hole) |
|
| Tishomingo Blues | ||
| 2004 | A Coyote's in the House | |
| 2004 | Mr. Paradise | |
| 2005 | The Hot Kid | |
| 2006 | Comfort to the Enemy Published serially in New York Times (Chapters can be downloaded at www.elmoreleonard.com) |
|
| 2007 | Up in Honey's Room | |
| 2009 | Road Dogs | |
| 2010 | Djibouti | |
| 2012 | Raylan |
| Year | Title | Director | Co-writers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Moonshine War | Richard Quine | |
| 1972 | Joe Kidd | John Sturges | |
| 1974 | Mr. Majestyk | Richard Fleischer | |
| 1980 | High Noon, Part II (TV) | Jerry Jameson | |
| 1985 | Stick | Burt Reynolds | Joseph Stinson |
| 1986 | 52 Pick-Up | John Frankenheimer | John Steppling |
| 1987 | The Rosary Murders | Fred Walton | William X. Kienzle & Fred Walton |
| Desperado (TV series) | Virgil W. Vogel | ||
| 1989 | Cat Chaser | Abel Ferrara | James Borelli |
| Year | Story | Film Adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Three-Ten to Yuma | 1957 - 3:10 to Yuma 2007 - 3:10 to Yuma |
| 1955 | The Captives | 1957 - The Tall T |
Also wrote a short story in the anthology Murderers' Row edited by Otto Penzler (2001) (back story for Tishomingo Blues)
In 1992 Leonard received a Grand Master Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America [9]
Leonard was the recipient of the 2006 Louisiana Writer Award.
In October 2008 Leonard received the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Award for outstanding achievement in American literature during the 13th Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference held at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, United States.
In May 2011, Leonard received the Peabody Award at the Waldorf Astoria for FX's "Justified."
