Despite the fact that he will probably be forever remembered as the author of Rear Window, one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous films, Cornell Woolrich to mystery aficionados is the father of noir. Born in 1903 in New York City, he spent most of his childhood in revolutionary Mexico with his father who was an engineer. He went to Columbia University but left rather soon. His writing career with six novels in the manner of Scott Fitgerald meet with tepid success. After a disastrous marriage and unsuccessful career as scriptwriter, he went to live with his mother in New York. His first mystery, The Bride Wore Black (1940) is the classic noir and one of the major books of the genre. More followed - especially short stories - with the characteristic that readers were never sure if the ending was going to be a happy one or a sad one. This is probably why Alfred Hitchcock and many other film makers were so attracted to his work. Woolrich is probably one of the "filmed" mystery authors with Rear Window as prime example. He lived most of his life secluded especially after he had his leg amputated following an uncured foot infection. Woolrich died in 1968.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (The number of available books by Cornell Wooolrich are unfortunately reduced to five, even though there seems to be a type of revival and more seemingly will be published in future. This is why we have asked the Cornell Woolrich web site and Howard Spindel if we could use scans of old covers where new ones are not available. This being granted we hereby thank them for their kind collaboration.) THE BRIDE WORE BLACK (Classic Mystery Fiction) No one knew who she was, where she came from, or why she had entered their lives. All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty-and that each time she appeared, a man died horribly...   THE BLACK CURTAIN   THE BLACK ALIBI   THE BLACK ANGEL   THE BLACK PATH OF FEAR   RENDEZVOUS IN BLACK   SAVAGE BRIDE   MARIHUANA   YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN   HOTEL ROOM   DEATH IS MY DANCING PARTNER   THE DOOM STONE   INTO THE NIGHT (unfinished, completed by Lawrence Block) As William Irish PHANTOM LADY We sat shoulder to shoulder at a little bar in the east Fifties. We ate dinner together, saw a Broadway show together, shared a cab together. The bartender, the waiter, the usher, the cab driver - none of them remembers you. The police say I was home strangling my wife at the moment I met you. You are the only one who can prove my story - but I don't know your name, or where you live. And I can't search for you from a jail cell....   DEADLINE AT DAWN   WALTZ INTO THE DARKNESS In this thrilling tale of greed and deception, Cornell Woolrich tells of middle-aged Louis Durand, whose fiancée has died fifteen years ago on the eve of their wedding. Now Louis decides to take one more chance at love by marrying Julia Russell, a woman he knows only by correspondence. When she arrives on the day of their wedding, she is younger and more beautiful than he expected - and far more deadly. Louis soon comes to realize that Julia is not who she claims to be - and they both embark on a waltz into darkness.   I MARRIED A DEAD MAN Woolrich, one of the most influential of American mystery writers, purveyed an authentically dark and paranoid vision. In this, one of his best (first published in 1948), a woman changes her identity with catastrophic results   STRANGLERS SERENADE   As GEORGE HOPLEY   NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES   FRIGHT AVAILABLE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS REAR WINDOW AND OTHER STORIES The great Woolrich turned out a number of classics in the 1930s and 1940s that defined the American mystery genre. Typical of his fine works, these stories involve blackmail and murder committed by ordinary people. Woolrich's books are essential for serious mystery fans.