biography
| name: |
Dannay, Frederic
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originally Daniel Nathan
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1905–82)
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| biography:
| Novelist, born in New York City, New York, USA. First cousin to Manfred B Lee (originally Manford Lepofsky), also born in New York City, they grew up as neighbours. In the 1920s they collaborated to win a detective short-story contest, after which success they decided to become full-time writers. They adopted the joint pseudonyms Ellery Queen and Barnaby Ross, and in 1929 published their first ‘Ellery Queen’ novel, The Roman Hat Mystery. They went on to publish 33 Ellery Queen detective novels (with Ellery Queen also the name of their detective), and four others under the name of Barnaby Ross, featuring the detective Drury Lane. Their works sold over 100 million copies and were made into several film series, a long-running radio programme, and occasional television films. In 1941 they founded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in order to publish both current mystery stories and reprint classics. They also edited numerous anthologies, and co-founded Mystery Writers of America. They always refused to disclose their exact writing methods, but evidently they took turns in developing the plots and writing the stories. |
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