Elmore Leonard Biography (1925-)

Full name, Elmore John Leonard, Jr.; born October 11 (some sources cite October 29), 1925, in New Orleans, LA; raised in Detroit, MI; son of Elmore John (in sales) and Flora Amelia (maiden name, Rive) Leonard; married Beverly Claire Cline, July (some sources cite August) 30, 1949 (divorced, May 24, 1977); married Joan Shephard (some sources cite the name Joan Leanne Lancaster), September 15, 1979 (died, January 13, 1993); married Christine Kent, August 19, 1993; children: (first marriage) Jane Elmore Jones, Peter, Christopher, William, Katherine Elmore Dudley. Addresses: Agent: Andrew Wiley, Andrew Wiley Agency, 250 West 57th St., Suite 2114, New York, NY 10107.; Manager: Michael Siegel and Associates, 8830 West Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048 (some sources cite 11532 Thurston Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90049).

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer, producer
Birth Details: October 11, 1925; New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Executive Producer
Jackie Brown, Miramax, 1997
Be Cool, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2005
Tishomingo Blues, Warner Bros., 2005
Film Consultant
The Big Bounce, Warner Bros., 2004
Television Executive Consultant
Series
Maximum Bob, ABC, 1998
(And production consultant) Karen Sisco, ABC, 2003, USA Network, 2003-2004
Television Creator
Movies
Desperado: Badlands Justice, NBC, 1989
Desperado: The Outlaw Wars, 1989
Television Appearances
Specials
Himself, AFI's "100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains" (also known as AFI's "100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains: America's Greatest Screen Characters"), CBS, 2003
Episodic
Byline Showtime, Showtime, 1992
American Cinema, PBS, 1995
RECORDINGS
Audiobooks
Be Cool, Recorded Books, 1999
The Kid and the Big Hunt, Simon & Schuster Audio, 2000
The Elmore Leonard Collection, BDD Audio, 2001
When the Women Come Out to Dance, Harper Audio, 2002
Tishomingo Blues, Harper Audio, 2003
Mr. Paradise, Harper Audio, 2004
Other Leonard works have been released as audio recordings.
Videos
Inside ``Out of Sight,'' Universal Studios Home Video, 1998
Jackie Brown: How It Went Down, Miramax Home Entertainment, 2002
WRITINGS
Screenplays
The Moonshine War (based on the novel by Leonard), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1970
Joe Kidd, Universal, 1972
Mr. Majestyk, United Artists, 1974
(With Joseph C. Stinson) Stick (based on Leonard's novel), Universal, 1985
(With John Steppling) Fifty-Two Pick-Up (based on Leonard's novel), Cannon, 1986
(With Fred Walton) The Rosary Murders (based on the novel by William X. Kienzle), New Line Cinema, 1987
Also wrote film scripts for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, including Boy of Spain, Frontier Boy, Julius Caesar, and Settlementof the Mississippi Valley; author of the script for a recruiting film for the Roman Catholic Franciscan order.
Teleplays

Movies
High Noon, Part Two: The Return of Will Kane (also known as High Noon, Part II and The Return of Will Kane), CBS, 1980
Desperado, NBC, 1987
Episodic
Byline Showtime, Showtime, 1992
Western Novels
The Bounty Hunters, Houghton Mifflin, 1953
The Law at Randado, Houghton Mifflin, 1954
Escape from Five Shadows, Houghton Mifflin, 1956
Last Stand at Saber River (also known as The Sound of Gunfire), Dell, 1957, published as Lawless River, R. Hale, 1959, and as Stand on the Saber, Corgi, 1960
Hombre, Ballantine Books, 1961
Valdez Is Coming, Gold Medal, 1970
Forty Lashes Less One, Bantam Books, 1972
Gunsights, Bantam Books, 1979
Crime Novels
The Moonshine War, Doubleday, 1969
The Big Bounce (also known as Mother, This Is Jack Ryan), Gold Medal, 1969, revised edition, Armchair Detective, 1989
Fifty-Two Pick-Up, Delacorte Press, 1974
Mr. Majestyk (based on his screenplay), Dell, 1974
Swag, Delacorte Press, 1976, published as Ryan's Rules, Dell, 1976
The Hunted, Dell, 1977
Unknown Man, No. 89, Delacorte Press, 1977
The Switch, Bantam Books, 1978
City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, Arbor House, 1980
Gold Coast, Bantam Books, 1980, revised edition, 1985
Split Images, Arbor House, 1981
Cat Chaser, Avon, 1982
LaBrava, Arbor House, 1983
Stick, Arbor House, 1983
Glitz, Arbor House, 1985
Bandits, Arbor House, 1987
Touch, Arbor House, 1987
Freaky Deaky, William Morrow, 1988
Killshot, William Morrow, 1989
Get Shorty, Delacorte Press, 1990
Maximum Bob, Delacorte Press, 1991
Rum Punch, Delacorte Press, 1992
Pronto, Delacorte Press, 1993
Riding the Rap, Delacorte Press, 1995
Out of Sight, Delacorte Press, 1996
Cuba Libre, Delacorte Press, 1998
Be Cool, Delacorte Press, 1999
Pagan Babies, Delacorte Press, 2000
Mr. Paradise, William Morrow, 2002
Tishomingo Blues, William Morrow, 2002
Short Story Collections
The Tonto Woman and Other Western Stories, Delacorte Press, 1998
When the Women Come Out to Dance, William Morrow, 2002
Omnibus Volumes
Elmore Leonard's Dutch Treat: Three Novels (contains The Hunted, Mr. Majestyk, and Swag), introduction by George F. Will,Arbor House, 1985
Elmore Leonard's Double Dutch Treat: Three Novels (contains City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, Gold Coast, and The MoonshineWar), introduction by Bob Greene, Arbor House, 1986
Elmore Leonard: Three Complete Novels (contains Cat Chaser, LaBrava, and Split Images), Wings Books, 1992
Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1 (contains The Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, and Gunsights), Delta, 1998
Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #2 (contains Escape from FiveShadows, Last Stand at Saber River, and The Law at Randado), Delta, 1998
Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #3 (contains Hombre and Valdez Is Coming), Delta, 1999
Other
Notebooks, Lord John, 1990
Fire in the Hole (novella; e-book), Contentville Press, 2001
A Coyote's in the House! (juvenile), William Morrow, 2004
Contributor to books, including The Courage to Change: Personal Conversations about Alcoholism, edited by Dennis Wholey, Houghton Mifflin, 1984; and Naked Came the Manatee: A Novel, edited by Carl Hiaasen, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. Novelettes include The Captives and 3:10 to Yuma. Contributor of short stories and novelettes to periodicals, includingArgosy, Dime Western, Saturday Evening Post, and ZaneGrey's Western.
ADAPTATIONS
Several feature films have been based on Leonard's writings. 3:10 to Yuma, adapted by Halsted Welles and released by Columbia in 1957, was based on Leonard's novelette of the same title. The Tall T, adapted by Burt Kennedy and released by Columbia in 1957, was based on Leonard's noveletteThe Captives. The films Hombre, adapted by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank and released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1967, The Big Bounce, adapted by Robert Dozier and released by Warner Bros. in 1969, and Valdez Is Coming, adapted by Roland Kibbee and David Rayfiel and releasedby United Artists in 1971, were all based on Leonard's novels. The Ambassador (also known as The Peacemaker), adapted by Max Jack and released by Cannon in 1984, was based on Leonard's novel Fifty-Two Pick-Up. Cat Chaser, adapted by Alan Sharp and James Borrelli in 1989 and released by LIVE Home Video in 1991, was based on Leonard's novel of the same title. The film Border Shootout, released by Turner Home Entertainment in1990, was based on Leonard's western novel The Law at Randado. The films Get Shorty, adapted by Scott Frank and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists in 1995, and Touch, adapted by Paul Schrader and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists in 1997, were also based on Leonard's novels. Jackie Brown, adapted by Quentin Tarantino and releasedby Miramax in 1997, was based on Leonard's novel Rum Punch. Out ofSight, adapted by Scott Frank and released by Universal in 1998, The Big Bounce, released by Warner Bros. in 2004, Be Cool, released byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2005, Tishomingo Blues, released by Warner Bros. in 2005, and Killshot, released by Miramax, were also based on Leonard's novels. Television movies based on Leonard's writings include Glitz, broadcast by NBC in 1988; and Split Images, broadcast in 1992; Pronto, broadcast by Showtime in 1996; Last Stand at Saber River,adapted by Ronald Cohen and broadcast by TNT in 1997; and Gold Coast (also known as Elmore Leonard's "Gold Coast"), broadcast by Showtime in1997. The television series Maximum Bob, broadcast by ABC in 1998, was based on Leonard's novel of the same title. The television series KarenSisco, broadcast by ABC in 2003 and USA Network in 2003 and 2004, was also based on Leonard's work.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 59, Thomson Gale, 2005
Bestsellers '89, Issue 1, Gale, 1989, p. 42
Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Volume 28, Gale, 1990, p. 282
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale, Volume 28, 1984, p. 233; Volume 34, 1985, p. 212
Devlin, James E., Elmore Leonard, Twayne Publishers, 1999
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 173: American Novelists since World War II, Gale, 1996
Geherin, David, Elmore Leonard, Continuum, 1989

Periodicals

Book, March/April, 2002, p. 28
Creative Screenwriting, Volume 4, issue 2, 1997, pp. 44-61
Detroiter, June, 1974
Film Comment, March/April, 1998, p. 43
Gallery, February, 2001, pp. 90-91; June, 2002, pp. 88-89, 136-37
Maclean's, March 29, 1999, p. 70
Movieline, July, 1998, pp. 52-56, 87
Newsweek, December 23, 2002, p. 75
New Yorker, September 30, 1996, pp. 43-47
New York Times, December 30, 1984
People Weekly, March 24, 1997, p. 35
Publishers Weekly, January 21, 2002, pp. 52-56
TV Guide, August 1, 1998, p. 23
Writer, November, 1997, p. 22
Writer's Digest, Volume 77, issue 6, 1997, pp. 30-32

Electronic

The Official Elmore Leonard Website, http://www.elmoreleonard.com,January 2, 2005

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