Cornell Woolrich
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Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich the fourth best
crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...
of his day, behind
Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...
,
Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction b ...
and Raymond Chandler.


Biography

Woolrich was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; his parents separated when he was young. He lived for a time in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
with his father before returning to New York to live with his mother, Claire Attalie Woolrich. He attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
but left in 1926 without graduating when his first novel, ''Cover Charge'', was published. As
Eddie Duggan Eddie Duggan is a British photographer, film-maker, screenwriter, author and academic games historian. Photography Eddie Duggan's photographs of bands on the burgeoning music scene in 1970s London have been published in both the underground and ...
observes, "Woolrich enrolled at New York's Columbia University in 1921 where he spent a relatively undistinguished year until he was taken ill and was laid up for some weeks. It was during this illness (a ''Rear-Window''-like confinement involving a gangrenous foot, according to one version of the story) that Woolrich started writing, producing ''Cover Charge'', which was published in 1926."
Eddie Duggan Eddie Duggan is a British photographer, film-maker, screenwriter, author and academic games historian. Photography Eddie Duggan's photographs of bands on the burgeoning music scene in 1970s London have been published in both the underground and ...
br>(1999) 'Writing in the darkness: the world of Cornell Woolrich' ''CrimeTime'' 2.6 pp. 113–126.
/ref> ''Cover Charge'' was one of his Jazz Age novels inspired by the work of
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
. A second short story, ''Children of the Ritz'', won Woolrich the first prize of $10,000 the following year in a competition organised by College Humor and First National Pictures; this led to his working as a screenwriter in Hollywood for First National Pictures. While in Hollywood, Woolrich explored his sexuality, apparently engaging in what Frances M. Nevins Jr. describes as "promiscuous and clandestine homosexual activity" and by marrying Violet Virginia Blackton, the 21-year-old daughter of
J. Stuart Blackton James Stuart Blackton (January 5, 1875 – August 13, 1941) was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to ...
, one of the founders of the
Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, ...
studio. Failing in both his attempt at marriage and at establishing a career as a screenwriter (the unconsummated marriage was annulled in 1933; Woolrich garnered no screen credits), Woolrich sought to resume his life as a novelist: Although Woolrich had published six 'jazz-age' novels, concerned with the party-antics and romances of the beautiful young things on the fringes of American society, between 1926 and 1932, he was unable to establish himself as a serious writer. Perhaps because the 'jazz-age' novel was dead in the water by the 1930s when the depression had begun to take hold, Woolrich was unable to find a publisher for his seventh novel, ''I Love You, Paris'', so he literally threw away the typescript, dumped it in a dustbin, and re-invented himself as a pulp writer. When he turned to pulp and
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
, Woolrich's output was so prolific his work was often published under one of his many 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 Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
movie ''
Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
'' and itself based on H.G. Wells' short story "Through a Window". François Truffaut filmed Woolrich's ''
The Bride Wore Black ''The Bride Wore Black'' (french: La Mariée était en noir) is a 1968 French film directed by François Truffaut and based on the novel of the same name by William Irish, a pseudonym for Cornell Woolrich. It stars Jeanne Moreau, Charles Den ...
'' and ''Waltz into Darkness'' in 1968 and 1969, respectively, the latter as ''
Mississippi Mermaid ''Mississippi Mermaid'' (french: La Sirène du ) is a 1969 French romantic drama film written and directed by François Truffaut and starring Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Adapted from the 1947 novel ''Waltz into Darkness'' by Cornel ...
''. Ownership of the copyright in Woolrich's original story "It Had to Be Murder" and its use for ''Rear Window'' was litigated before the
US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
in '' Stewart v. Abend'', 495 U.S. 207 (1990). He returned to New York where he and his mother moved into the Hotel Marseilles (Broadway and West 103rd Street). Eddie Duggan observes that " though his writing made him wealthy, Woolrich and his mother lived in a series of seedy hotel rooms, including the squalid Hotel Marseilles apartment building in Harlem, among a group of thieves, prostitutes and lowlifes that would not be out of place in Woolrich's dark fictional world". Woolrich lived there until his mother's death on October 6, 1957, which prompted his move to the Hotel Franconia (20 West 72nd Street). In later years, he socialized on occasion in Manhattan bars with
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...
colleagues and younger fans such as writer
Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author. He published novelizations and other work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson, Co ...
, but
alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
and an
amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...
leg (caused by an infection from a too-tight shoe which went untreated) left him a recluse. As Duggan writes: Although he moved from Harlem's decrepit Hotel Marseilles to a more upmarket residence in the Hotel Franconia near Central Park, and later to the Sheraton-Russell on Park Avenue, Woolrich was a virtual recluse. Now in his 60s, with his eyesight failing, lonely, psychologically wracked by guilt over his homosexuality, tortured by his alcoholism, self-doubt, and a diabetic to boot, Woolrich neglected himself to such a degree that he allowed a foot infection to become gangrenous which resulted, early in 1968, in the amputation of a leg. After the amputation, and a conversion to Catholicism, Woolrich returned to the Sheraton-Russell, requiring the use of a wheelchair. Some of the staff there would take Woolrich down to the lobby so he could look out on the passing traffic, thus making the wizened Woolrich into a kind of darker, self-loathing version of the character played by James Stewart in Hitchcock's ''Rear Window''. With the type of closure that is usually only encountered as a literary device, the Woolrich story turns full-circle around the Oedipally charged foot motif, the writing career that apparently began with a period of confinement attributed to a foot infection ends with an amputation, and the deep Freudian resonance that amputation induces. Woolrich 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 and was interred with his mother in the 'Shrine of Memories Mausoleum', Unit 1, Tier G, Crypt 102 at
Ferncliff Cemetery Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is located at 280 Secor Road in the hamlet of Hartsdale, town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States, about north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Fernc ...
,
Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Green ...
. Woolrich bequeathed his estate of about $850,000 to Columbia University to endow scholarships in his mother's memory for writing students. His papers are also kept at the
Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources ...
.


Bibliography

Most of Woolrich's books are out of print, and new editions were slow to come out because of estate issues. However, new collections of his short stories were issued in the early 1990s. As of February 3, 2020, th
Faded Page
has seven titles available as
ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
in Canada; these may be still under copyright elsewhere. In 2020 and 2021, Otto Penzler's "American Mystery Classics" series released new editions of ''Waltz into Darkness'' and ''The Bride Wore Black'' in both hardcover and paperback. Woolrich died leaving fragments of an unfinished novel, titled ''The Loser''; fragments have been published separately and also collected in '' Tonight, Somewhere in New York'' (2005).


Novels


Short story collections


Selected films based on Woolrich stories

* ''
Convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...
'' (1938) (story ''Face Work''), directed by
Leon Barsha Leon Barsha (December 26, 1905 November 13, 1964) was an American film producer, editor and director. As a producer and director he was best known for making films in the Western genre. In his later years he concentrated especially on editing. ...
* '' Street of Chance'' (1942) (novel ''The Black Curtain''), directed by
Jack Hively Jack Hively (September 5, 1910 – December 19, 1995) was an American film editor and film and television director whose career lasted from the 1930s through the 1980s. His father and his brother were also film editors. He began as a film editor ...
* ''
The Leopard Man ''The Leopard Man'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Jean Brooks, and Margo. Based on the book ''Black Alibi'' by Cornell Woolrich, it follows a series of violent murders in a small Ne ...
'' (1943) (novel ''Black Alibi''), directed by
Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...
* ''
Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book com ...
'' (1944) (novel), directed by
Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...
* ''
The Mark of the Whistler ''The Mark of the Whistler'', (aka ''The Marked Man'') is a 1944 American mystery film noir based on the radio drama ''The Whistler''. Directed by William Castle, the production features Richard Dix, Porter Hall and Janis Carter. It is the second ...
'' (1944) (story ''Dormant Account''), directed by
William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...
* ''
Deadline at Dawn ''Deadline at Dawn'' is a 1946 American film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish). The RKO Pictures film rele ...
'' (1946) (novel), the only film directed by stage director
Harold Clurman Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.
* '' Black Angel'' (1946) (novel), directed by Roy William Neill * '' The Chase'' (1946) (novel ''The Black Path of Fear''). directed by
Arthur Ripley Arthur DeWitt Ripley (January 12, 1897 – February 13, 1961) was an American film screenwriter, editor, producer and director. Biography In 1923, he joined the Mack Sennett studio as a comedy writer. In the 1920s, he worked closely with Fr ...
* ''
Fall Guy Fall guy is a colloquial phrase that refers to a person to whom blame is deliberately and falsely attributed in order to deflect blame from another party. Origin The origin of the term "fall guy" is unknown and contentious. Many sources place ...
'' (1947) (story ''Cocaine''), directed by
Reginald Le Borg Reginald Le Borg (11 December 1902 – 25 March 1989) was an Austrian film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria with the surname Groebel and directed 68 films between 1936 and 1974. Le Borg made a series of low-budget horror films at Un ...
* '' The Guilty'' (1947) (story ''He Looked Like Murder''), directed by John Reinhardt * '' Fear in the Night'' (1947) (story ''Nightmare''), directed by
Maxwell Shane Maxwell Shane (August 26, 1905 – October 25, 1983) was an American movie and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Before embarking in a career in show business, Shane studied law at USC and UCLA law schools. He later b ...
* '' The Return of the Whistler'' (1948) (story ''All at Once, No Alice''), directed by D. Ross Lederman * '' I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes'' (1948) (story), directed by
William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film Film director, director, screenwriter, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreu ...
* ''
Night Has a Thousand Eyes ''Night Has a Thousand Eyes'' is a 1948 American horror film directed by John Farrow and starring Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell and John Lund. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon and Jonathan Latimer. The film is based on the nov ...
'' (1948) (novel), directed by
John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...
* '' The Window'' (1949) (story ''The Boy Cried Murder''), directed by
Ted Tetzlaff Dale H. "Ted" Tetzlaff (3 June 1903, Los Angeles, California – 7 January 1995, Sausalito, California) was an Academy Award-nominated Hollywood cinematographer active in the 1930s and 1940s. Career Tetzlaff was particularly favored by the ...
* '' No Man of Her Own'' (1950) (novel ''I Married a Dead Man''), directed by
Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He directed his f ...
* ''
The Earring ''The Earring'' (Spanish:''El Pendiente'') is a 1951 Argentine thriller film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Mirtha Legrand. It is a film noir based on a story by Cornell Woolrich.Spicer p.437 The film's art direction was by Germán G ...
'' (1951) (story ''The Death Stone''), directed by
León Klimovsky León Klimovsky (16 October 1906 – 8 April 1996) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer. Biography A trained dentist, born in Buenos Aires, his real passion was always the cinema. He pioneered Argentine cultural moveme ...
* ''The Trace of Some Lips'' (1952) (story ''Collared''), directed by
Juan Bustillo Oro Juan Bustillo Oro (2 June 1904 – 10 June 1989) was a Mexican film director, screenwriter and producer, whose career spanned over 38 years. Among his works there are '' In the Times of Don Porfirio'', '' Here's the Point'', '' Arm in Arm Down t ...
* ''If I Should Die Before I Wake'' (1952), directed by
Carlos Hugo Christensen Carlos Hugo Christensen ( Santiago del Estero, 15 December 1914 – Rio de Janeiro, 30 November 1999) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was of Danish descent through his paternal side. Christensen directed fi ...
* ''
Don't Ever Open That Door ''Don't Ever Open That Door'' (Spanish:''No abras nunca esa puerta'') is a 1952 Argentine thriller film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen and starring Ángel Magana, Roberto Escalada and Norma Giménez. It is a film noir in two separate epis ...
'' (1952) (stories ''Somebody on the Phone'' and ''Humming Bird Comes Home'') directed by
Carlos Hugo Christensen Carlos Hugo Christensen ( Santiago del Estero, 15 December 1914 – Rio de Janeiro, 30 November 1999) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was of Danish descent through his paternal side. Christensen directed fi ...
* ''
Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
'' (1954) (story ''It Had to Be Murder''), directed by
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
* '' Obsession'' (1954) (story ''Silent as the Grave''), directed by
Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a P ...
* ''The Glass Eye'' (1956), directed by Antonio Santillán * '' Nightmare'' (1956) (story), directed by
Maxwell Shane Maxwell Shane (August 26, 1905 – October 25, 1983) was an American movie and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Before embarking in a career in show business, Shane studied law at USC and UCLA law schools. He later b ...
* '' Escapade'' (1957) (story ''Cinderella and the Mob''), directed by
Ralph Habib Ralph Habib (Paris, 29 June 1912 – Paris, 27 June 1969) was a French film director of Lebanese origin. He started his film career with Pathé. He later worked as assistant director notably Jean Dréville and Jean-Paul Le Chanois before directin ...
* '' The Boy Cried Murder'' (1966) (story ''The Boy Cried Murder''), directed by George P. Breakston * ''
The Bride Wore Black ''The Bride Wore Black'' (french: La Mariée était en noir) is a 1968 French film directed by François Truffaut and based on the novel of the same name by William Irish, a pseudonym for Cornell Woolrich. It stars Jeanne Moreau, Charles Den ...
'' (1968) (novel), directed by François Truffaut * ''
Mississippi Mermaid ''Mississippi Mermaid'' (french: La Sirène du ) is a 1969 French romantic drama film written and directed by François Truffaut and starring Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Adapted from the 1947 novel ''Waltz into Darkness'' by Cornel ...
'' (1969) (novel ''Waltz into Darkness''), directed by François Truffaut * ''
Kati Patang ''Kati Patang'' () is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. It was a box office success. The film stars Asha Parekh as a woman pretending to be a widow, and her ensuing trials and tribulations ...
'' (1970) (novel ''I Married a Dead Man''), directed by
Shakti Samanta Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films such as ''Anand Ashram'' (1977), Anusandhan /'' Barsaat Ki Ek Raat'' (1981), ''anay abhi ...
* ''
Seven Blood-Stained Orchids ''Seven Blood-Stained Orchids'' ( it, Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso) is a 1972 ''giallo'' film directed by Umberto Lenzi, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Plot A killer is driving around the streets of Italy looking for a specific victim w ...
'' (1972) (novel ''Rendezvous in Black''), directed by
Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...
* '' You'll Never See Me Again'' (1973), filmed for television, directed by
Jeannot Szwarc Jeannot Szwarc (born November 21, 1939) is a French director of film and television, known for such films as '' Jaws 2'', ''Somewhere in Time'', ''Supergirl'' and '' Santa Claus: The Movie''. He has also produced and written for TV. Life and c ...
* ''
Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...
'' (1974) (story ''For the Rest of Her Life''), directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...
* ''Gun Moll'' (1975) (story Collared), directed by
Giorgio Capitani Giorgio Capitani (29 December 1927 – 25 March 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1954 and 2012. He also wrote for 12 films. He was born in Paris, France. Selected filmography * '' The Flam ...
* '' Union City'' (1980) (story ''The Corpse Next Door''), directed by Marcus Reichert * '' I Married a Shadow'' (1983) (novel ''I Married a Dead Man'') * '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984) (story ''The Boy Who Cried Murder''), directed by Richard Franklin * ''
I'm Dangerous Tonight ''I'm Dangerous Tonight'' is a 1990 American made-for-television supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and starring Mädchen Amick, Corey Parker, R. Lee Ermey and Anthony Perkins. It made its debut on USA Network on August 8, 1990. I ...
'' (1990) (story ''I'm Dangerous Tonight''), directed by
Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror fi ...
* ''
Mrs. Winterbourne ''Mrs. Winterbourne'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama (film and television), drama film starring Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake, and Brendan Fraser. It is loosely based on Cornell Woolrich's novel ''I Married a Dead Man'', which had already ...
'' (1996) (novel ''I Married a Dead Man''), directed by
Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fro ...
* ''
Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
'' (1998) (story ''It Had to Be Murder''), directed by
Jeff Bleckner Jeff Bleckner (born August 12, 1943) is an American theatre and television director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bleckner made his directorial debut off-Broadway with ''The Unseen Hand/Forensic and the Navigators'', an evening of one-a ...
* '' Original Sin'' (2001) (novel ''Waltz into Darkness''), directed by
Michael Cristofer Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip ...
* '' Four O'Clock'' (2006) (story ''Three O'Clock'')


References


Sources

* Nevins, Francis M. Jr. (1988), ''First You Dream, Then You Die'', Mysterious Press. * Duggan, E. (1999) 'Writing in the darkness: the world of Cornell Woolrich' ''CrimeTime'' 2.6 pp. 113–126.


Further reading

* Breen, Jon L. "Dark Deeds: The Mystery of Cornell Woolrich." The Weekly Standard (March 8, 2004), 31–33. * Lane, Joel. "Mansions of Fear: The Dark Houses of Cornell Woolrich". ''Wormwood'' No 3 (Autumn 2004), 22–32. * Phelps, Donald. "Cinema Gris: Woolrich/Neil's ''Black Angel''." ''Film Comment'' Vol. 36 No. 1 (Jan–Feb 2000), 64–69. * Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Black Window: Cornell Woolrich." ''Film Comment'' Vol. 20 No. 5 (Sept–Oct 1984), 36–38. * Thompson, Currie K. "Two Takes on Gender in Argentine ''Film Noir''." ''Studies in Hispanic Cinemas'' Vol. 4 No. 2 (2007), 121–130. (analyzes ''Si muero antes de despertar/If I Should Die Before I Wake''
952 Year 952 ( CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I), joined by German nob ...
based on a Cornell Woolrich story)


External links

* *
Radio adaptations of Cornell Woolrich's stories on the CBS radio show ''Suspense''
*
Cornell Woolrich Papers
at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York
"Cornell Woolrich and the Tough-Man Tradition of American Crime Fiction"
by Christine Photinos (''Clues: A Journal of Detection'' 28.2, 2010)
"The melodrama star as a noir film heroine: ''The Trace of Some Lips'' (1952)"
by Roberto Carlos Ortiz (article in Spanish about a Mexican adaptation of "Collared", by Cornell Woolrich)
Finding aid to Cornell Woolrich papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolrich, Cornell 1903 births 1968 deaths Writers from New York City American amputees American male novelists American mystery writers Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Columbia College (New York) alumni Edgar Award winners American LGBT novelists 20th-century American novelists American short story writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) American Noir writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century LGBT people