Edgar Wallace
Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during the Second Boer War for Reuters and the Daily Mail. Struggling with debt, he left South Africa, returned to London and began writing thrillers to raise income, publishing books including The Four Just Men (1905). Drawing on his time as a reporter in the Congo, covering the Belgian atrocities, Wallace serialised short stories in magazines such as The Windsor Magazine and later published collections such as Sanders of the River (1911). He signed with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921 and became an internationally recognised author.
After an unsuccessful bid to stand as Liberal MP for Blackpool (as one of David Lloyd George's Independent Liberals) in the 1931 general election, Wallace moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a script writer for RKO. He died suddenly from undiagnosed diabetes, during the initial drafting of King Kong (1933).
Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace's work.
In addition to his work on King Kong, he is remembered as a writer of "the colonial imagination", for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, and for the Green Archer serial. He sold over 50 million copies of his combined works in various editions and The Economist in 1997 describes him as "one of the most prolific thriller writers of [the 20th] century". Although the great majority of his books are out of print in the UK, they are still read in Germany. A 50-minute German TV documentary was made in 1963 called The Edgar Wallace Story, which featured his son Bryan Edgar Wallace.
Biography from the Wikipedia article Edgar Wallace. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Part of Crew
Recently Updated Shows
Brilliant Minds
Inspired by the extraordinary life and work of world-famous author and physician Oliver Sacks, Brilliant Minds follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier - the human mind - while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Buried in the Backyard
Buried in the Backyard examines true-crime stories of victims found buried in the most unsuspecting of places. While most people enjoy their backyard as a safe haven, others are not so lucky when they discover the horrors lurking beneath well-trimmed hedges and manicured fences. Uncovering the remains is only the beginning, however, as each hour-long episode follows a unique police investigation to identify the body, determine a cause of death and find the person responsible. Captivating recreations, along with first-hand accounts from those closest to the victims and law enforcement agents involved in the case, bring each shocking tale to life. As investigators dig into the "how" and "why" surrounding each crime, viewers are taken on an unpredictable journey and reminded that this could happen to anyone - in any home, in any neighborhood.
Universal Basic Guys
In Universal Basic Guys brothers Mark and Hank Hoagies suddenly find themselves with no jobs when the Glantontown Hot Dog factory switches over to automation. Lucky for them, the town started a radical Universal Basic Income pilot program, giving all residents of Glantontown $3,000 per month with no strings attached. Now, Mark, Hank and the rest of their local buddies are once again kids in the summertime, overflowing with the perilous combo of free time and stupid ideas. This is a show about men trying to find purpose in a world where they're no longer needed.
