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Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich (4 December 1903 – 25 September 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer who sometimes wrote under the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich the fourth best crime writer of his day, behind only Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler. A check of film titles reveals that more ''film noir'' screenplays were adapted from works by Woolrich than any other crime novelist, and many of his stories were adapted during the 1940s for ''Suspense'' and other dramatic radio programs. ==Biography== Woolrich was born in New York City; his parents separated when he was young. He lived for a time in Mexico with his father before returning to New York to live with his mother, Claire Attalie Woolrich. He attended Columbia University but left in 1926 without graduating when his first novel, ''Cover Charge'', was published. ''Cover Charge'' was one of six Jazz Age novels inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He soon turned to pulp and detective fiction, often published under his pseudonyms. For example, William Irish was the byline in ''Dime Detective Magazine'' (February, 1942) on his 1942 story "It Had to Be Murder", (source of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock movie ''Rear Window'') and based on H. G. Wells' short story "Through a Window". François Truffaut filmed Woolrich's ''The Bride Wore Black'' and ''Waltz Into Darkness'' in 1968 and 1969, respectively, the latter as ''Mississippi Mermaid''. Ownership of the copyright in Woolrich's original story "It Had to Be Murder" and its use for ''Rear Window'' was litigated before the United States Supreme Court in ''Stewart v. Abend'', 495 U.S. 207 (1990). Woolrich was homosexual and sexually active in his youth. In 1930, while working as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, Woolrich married Violet Virginia Blackton (1910–65), daughter of silent film producer J. Stuart Blackton. They separated after three months, and the marriage was annulled in 1933. Woolrich returned to New York where he and his mother moved into the Hotel Marseilles (Broadway and West 103rd Street). He lived there until her death on October 6, 1957, which prompted his move to the Hotel Franconia (20 West 72nd Street).〔Nevins, Francis M. "Introduction," ''Tonight, Somewhere in New York''. Carroll & Graf, 2001.〕 In later years, he socialized on occasion in Manhattan bars with Mystery Writers of America colleagues and younger fans such as writer Ron Goulart,〔Goulart, Ron: "The Ghost of Cornell Woolrich" ''The Twilight Zone Magazine'', December 1984, pages 16-17〕 but alcoholism and an amputated leg (caused by an infection from a too-tight shoe which went untreated) left him a recluse. He did not attend the premiere of Truffaut's film of his novel ''The Bride Wore Black'' in 1968, even though it was held in New York City. He died weighing 89 pounds. He is interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Woolrich bequeathed his estate of about $850,000 to Columbia University, to endow scholarships in his mother's memory for writing students. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cornell Woolrich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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