Richard Edward Connell Jr. (October 17, 1893 – November 22, 1949) was an American author and journalist. He is best remembered for his short story "

The Most Dangerous Game "The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell, first published in ''Collier's'' on January 19, 1924, with illustrations by Wilmot Emerton Heitland. The story features a big-game hunter ...

" (1924). Connell was one of the most popular American short story writers of his time. His stories were published in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Coll ...

'' magazines. He had equal success as a journalist and screenwriter, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1942 ( Best Original Story) for the movie '' Meet John Doe'' (1941), directed by

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

and based on his 1922 short story "A Reputation". Connell was born on October 17, 1893, in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeeps ...

, the son of Richard E. Connell and Mary Miller Connell. He began his writing career for '' The Poughkeepsie Journal'', and attended Georgetown College for a year before going to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. While at Harvard, Connell edited '' The Lampoon'' and ''

The Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

''. He subsequently worked on the city staff of ''

The New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' and as a copy writer for J. Walter Thompson. Connell served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. While in the army, he was the editor of his camp's newspaper. After the war, he turned to writing short stories, and eventually wrote over 300.

Screenplays

* ''

'' (1932) (contributing writer) * '' The Milky Way'' (1936) (writer) * ''

F-Man ''F-Man'' is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and written by Richard Connell, Henry Johnson, Paul Gerard Smith and Eddie Welch. The film stars Jack Haley, William Frawley, Grace Bradley, Adrienne Marden, Onslow Stevens a ...

'' (1936) (writer) * ''

Love on Toast ''Love on Toast'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Ewald André Dupont. It was John Payne's fourth film. Cast * Stella Adler as Linda Craven * John Payne as Bill Adams * Grant Richards as Clark Sanford *Kathryn Kane as Polly Marr *Be ...

'' (1937) (writer) * ''Okusama ni shirasu bekarazu'' (1937) (writer) * '' The Cowboy and the Lady'' (1938) (contributing writer) (uncredited) * '' Doctor Rhythm'' (1938) (writer) * ''

Hired Wife ''Hired Wife'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne and Virginia Bruce. Plot When Stephen Dexter (Brian Aherne), boss of Dexter Cement, competes with the giants in ...

'' (1940) (writer) * '' Nice Girl?'' (1941) (writer) * '' Rio Rita'' (1942) (screenplay) * ''

Presenting Lily Mars ''Presenting Lily Mars'' is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, produced by Joe Pasternak, starring Judy Garland and Van Heflin, and based on the novel by Booth Tarkington. The film is often cited as Garland's first film ...

'' (1943) (screenplay) * '' Two Girls and a Sailor'' (1944) (writer) * ''

Thrill of a Romance ''Thrill of a Romance'' (also known as ''Thrill of a New Romance'') is an American Technicolor romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by Tommy ...

'' (1945) (writer) * '' Her Highness and the Bellboy'' (1945) (writer) * '' Luxury Liner'' (1948) (writer)

Novels

* ''The Mad Lover'' (1928) * ''Murder at Sea'' (1929) * ''Playboy'' (1936) * ''What Ho!'' (1937)

Short story collections

*''The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon and Other Humorous Tales'' (1922) – Also known as ''Mister Braddy's Bottle and Other Humorous Tales'' *''Apes and Angels'' (1924) – Includes "The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee". *''Variety'' (1925) – Includes "

". *''Ironies'' (1930) – Includes "The Law Beaters".
Ironies
' at WorldCat *''The Most Dangerous Game''

References

External links

* * * * * *
Richard Connell
at

The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema in ...

Additional biography and text of ''The Most Dangerous Game''
* Works by Richard Connell (public domain in Canada)
Louise Fox Connell Papers, 1904-1986
at Harvard University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, Richard 1893 births 1949 deaths 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers American male novelists American male poets American male short story writers Writers from Poughkeepsie, New York Harvard University alumni 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni