View source for Edgar Wallace

{{Short description|British writer (1875–1932)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_name         = Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace
| name               = Edgar Wallace
| image              = Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13109, Edgar Wallace.jpg
| image_size         = 220px
| caption            = Wallace in 1928
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1875|4|1|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Greenwich]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1932|2|10|1875|4|1|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Beverly Hills, California]], U.S.
| other_names        = 
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Ivy Maude Caldecott|1901|1918|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Ethel Violet King|1921}}
}}
| known_for          = Co-writer [[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]
| occupation         = Crime writer, [[war correspondent]], journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright
| nationality        = British
}}
'''Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace''' (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction.

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 (novel)|The Four Just Men]]'' (1905). Drawing on his time as a reporter in the Congo, covering [[Atrocities in the Congo Free State|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 (UK, 1931)|Independent Liberals]]) in the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 general election]], Wallace moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a script writer for [[RKO Pictures|RKO]]. He died suddenly from undiagnosed diabetes, during the initial drafting of ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/81433.Edgar_Wallace|title=Edgar Wallace}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Films based on works by Edgar Wallace]]</ref>

In addition to his work on ''King Kong'', he is remembered as a writer of "the colonial imagination", for the [[The Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder|J. G. Reeder detective stories]], and for the ''[[The Green Archer (1940 serial)|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.<ref Name="Home">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/moreover/1997/08/21/more-at-home-abroad |title=More at home abroad|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date= 21 August 1997}}</ref><ref Name=p73>Dixon (1998), p. 73</ref> A 50-minute German TV documentary was made in 1963 called ''The Edgar Wallace Story'', which featured his son [[Bryan Edgar Wallace]].

== Life and work ==

=== Ancestry and birth ===
Wallace's great-grandfather was entertainer [[James Henry Marriott]], and his grandmother was actress [[Alice Marriott (actress)|Alice Marriott]].<ref>{{DNZB|title=James Henry Marriott|first= Peter|last= Downes|id=1m15|access-date= 1 March 2019}}</ref> Wallace was born at 7 Ashburnham Grove, [[Greenwich]], to actors Richard Horatio Marriott Edgar (1847–1894) and Mary Jane "Polly" Richards, née Blair (born 1843).<ref Name="ODNB">{{cite news| url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36703 |work=Dictionary of National Biography| title=Edgar Wallace|edition=Online |date= January 2011}}</ref><ref Name="Shot">{{cite web| url=http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/feature_view.aspx?FEATURE_ID=45| title=Past Masters: Edgar Wallace|website=Shot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=oP1tJU4BSkKk%2Fb459k%2BeNA&scan=1| title=Index entry|access-date=21 August 2016|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref>

Wallace's mother's family had been in show business, and she worked in the theatre as a stagehand, usherette, and bit-part actress until she married in 1867. Her husband, Captain Joseph Richards, was born in 1838; he was from an Irish family. He and his father John Richards were both [[British Merchant Navy|Merchant Navy]] captains, and his mother Catherine Richards came from a mariner family. Joseph died at sea in 1868, leaving his pregnant wife destitute.  After the birth of Wallace's older sibling, his mother returned to the stage, assuming the stage name "Polly" Richards. In 1872, she met and joined the Marriott family theatre troupe, managed by Alice Marriott, her husband Richard Edgar, and her three adult children (from earlier liaisons), Grace, Adeline and Richard Horatio Marriott Edgar.<ref>[[Kurt Gänzl|Gänzl, Kurt]]. [https://kurtofgerolstein.blogspot.com.au/2018/05/old-adam-or-when-talent-skips-generation.html "Old Adam: or, when talent skips a generation"], Kurt Gänzl's blog, 25 May 2018</ref>

Wallace's parents had a "broom cupboard" style sexual encounter during an after-show party. Discovering she was pregnant, his mother invented a fictitious obligation in [[Greenwich]] that would last at least half a year and obtained a room in a boarding house where she lived until her son's birth, on 1 April 1875.<ref Name=Lives /> During her confinement she had asked her midwife to find a couple to foster the child. The midwife introduced Wallace's mother to her close friend, Mrs Freeman, a mother of ten children, whose husband George Freeman was a [[Billingsgate]] fishmonger. On 9 April 1875, his mother took Wallace to the semi-literate Freeman family, and made arrangements to visit often.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

=== Childhood and early career ===
Wallace, then known as Richard Horatio Edgar Freeman, had a happy childhood and a close bond with 20-year-old Clara Freeman, who became a second mother to him. By 1878, his mother could no longer afford the small sum she had been paying the Freemans to care for her son and, instead of placing the boy in the [[workhouse]], the Freemans adopted him.<ref Name="ODNB" /> His mother never visited Wallace again as a child. His foster-father George Freeman was determined to ensure Richard received a good education, and for some time Wallace attended St. Alfege with St. Peter's, a boarding school in [[Peckham]],<ref Name="Shot" /> but he played truant and then left full-time education at the age of 12.<ref Name="ODNB" />

By his early teens, Wallace had held down numerous jobs such as newspaper-seller at [[Ludgate Circus]] near [[Fleet Street]], milk-delivery boy, rubber factory worker, shoe shop assistant, and ship's cook. A plaque at Ludgate Circus commemorates Wallace's first encounter with the newspaper business.<ref Name="ODNB" /><ref Name="Shot" /> He was dismissed from his job on the milk run for stealing money.<ref Name=Lives>{{cite book|title=Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives|author= Sutherland, John|publisher=Yale University Press|date= 2012|page= 122 |isbn= 978-0-300-18243-9}}</ref> In 1894, he became engaged to a local [[Deptford]] girl, Edith Anstree, but broke the engagement and enlisted in the infantry.

Wallace registered in the [[British Army]] under the name Edgar Wallace, after the author of ''[[Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ|Ben-Hur]]'', [[Lew Wallace]].<ref Name="ODNB" /><ref Name="Shot" /><ref Name=Lives /> At the time the medical records register him as having a 33-inch chest and being stunted from his childhood spent in the slums.<ref Name=Lives /> He was posted to South Africa with the [[West Kent Regiment]], in 1896.<ref Name="Shot" /> He disliked army life but managed to arrange a transfer to the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]], which was less arduous but more unpleasant, and so transferred again to the Press Corps, which he found suited him better.<ref Name=Lives />

=== 1898–1918 ===
[[File:Edgar Wallace c1900.jpg|thumb|280px|Edgar Wallace]]
Wallace began publishing songs and poetry, much inspired by [[Rudyard Kipling]], whom he met in [[Cape Town]] in 1898. Wallace's first book of ballads, ''The Mission that Failed!'', was published that same year. In 1899, he bought his way out of the forces and turned to writing full time.<ref Name="ODNB" /> Remaining in Africa, he became a [[war correspondent]], first for [[Reuters]] and then the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' (1900) and other periodicals during the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]].

In 1901, while in South Africa, Wallace married Ivy Maude Caldecott  (1879–1926),<ref Name="ODNB" /> even though her father Reverend William Shaw Caldecott, a Wesleyan missionary, was strongly opposed to the marriage. The couple's first child, Eleanor Clare Hellier Wallace, died suddenly from [[meningitis]] in 1903, and the couple returned to London soon afterwards, deeply in debt.<ref Name="ODNB" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3241:edgar-wallace-the-man-who-wrote-too-much&catid=38:profile&Itemid=191|title=Edgar Wallace: The Man Who Wrote Too Much? |work=Mystery Scene |date=Summer 2013 |issue=130 |author=Teri Duerr}}</ref>

In London, Wallace worked for the ''Mail'' and began writing detective stories in a bid to earn quick money. A son, [[Bryan Edgar Wallace]], was born in 1904 followed by a daughter, Patricia, in 1908.<ref Name="ODNB" /> In 1903, Wallace met his birth mother Polly, whom he had never known. Terminally ill, 60 years old, and living in poverty, she came to him to ask for money and was turned away. Polly died in the Bradford Infirmary later that year.<ref>{{cite book|title=Edgar Wallace: The Biography of a Phenomenon| date=1938| last=Lane|first=Margaret| edition=Limited|page=169 |publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref>

[[File:Edgar Wallace plaque, Fleet Street.jpg|thumb|left|Plaque in [[Fleet Street]], London, commemorating Edgar Wallace who worked there for the ''Daily Mail'' before finding fame as an author.]]

Unable to find any backer for his first book, Wallace set up his own publishing company, Tallis Press, which issued the sensational thriller ''The Four Just Men'' (1905). Despite promotion in the ''Mail'' and good sales, the project was financially mismanaged, and Wallace had to be bailed out by the ''Mail''{{'s}} proprietor [[Alfred Harmsworth]], who was anxious that the farrago might reflect badly on his newspaper.<ref Name="ODNB" /> Problems were compounded when inaccuracies in Wallace's reporting led to libel suits being brought against the ''Mail''.<ref name="Grdn2024">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Andrew |title=Little Englanders by Alwyn Turner review – portrait of a poignant interlude in British history |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/11/little-englanders-by-alwyn-turner-britain-in-edwardian-era-review-portrait-of-a-poignant-interlude |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=11 March 2024}}</ref> Wallace was fired in 1907, the first reporter ever to be fired from the paper, and he found no other paper would employ him, given his reputation. The family lived continuously in a state of near-bankruptcy, Ivy having to sell her jewellery for food.<ref Name="ODNB" />

During 1907, Edgar travelled to the [[Congo Free State]], to report on [[Atrocities in the Congo Free State|atrocities]] committed against the Congolese under King [[Leopold II of Belgium]] and the Belgian rubber companies, in which up to 15 million Congolese were killed.<ref Name="ODNB" /> Isabel Thorne, of the ''Weekly Tale-Teller'' penny magazine, invited Wallace to serialise stories inspired by his experiences. These were published as his first collection ''Sanders of the River'' (1911), a best seller. Later , in 1935 it was [[Sanders of the River|adapted into a film]] of the same name, starring [[Paul Robeson]]. Wallace went on to publish 11 more similar collections (102 stories). They were tales of exotic adventure and local tribal rites, set on an African river, mostly without love interest as this held no appeal for Wallace. His first 28 books and their film rights he sold outright, with no royalties, for quick money.<ref Name="ODNB" /> Critic [[David Pringle]] noted in 1987: "The ''Sanders'' Books are not frequently reprinted nowadays, perhaps because of their overt racism".<ref>{{cite book|author=Pringle, David|title=Imaginary People: A Who's Who of Modern Fictional Characters|location= London|publisher= Grafton Books|date= 1987|isbn=0-246-12968-9 |page=401}}</ref>

The period from 1908 to 1932 was the most prolific of Wallace's life. Initially, he wrote mainly in order to satisfy creditors in the UK and South Africa. However, his books' success began to rehabilitate his reputation as a journalist, and he began reporting from horse racing circles. He wrote for the ''Week-End'' and the ''[[The Evening News (London newspaper)|Evening News]]'', became an editor for ''Week-End Racing Supplement'', started his own racing papers ''Bibury's'' and ''R. E. Walton's Weekly'', and bought many racehorses of his own. He lost many thousands gambling, and despite his success, spent large sums on an extravagant lifestyle he could not afford.<ref Name="ODNB" />

During 1916, Ivy had her third and last child by Edgar, Michael Blair Wallace, and filed for divorce in 1918.<ref Name="ODNB" />

=== 1918–1929 ===

Ivy moved to [[Tunbridge Wells]] with the children, and Wallace drew closer to his secretary Ethel Violet King (1896–1933), daughter of banker Frederick King. They married in 1921; their daughter [[Penelope Wallace|Margaret Penelope June]] (known as Penny Wallace) was born in 1923.<ref>{{cite news|last=Adrian|first=Jack|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-penny-wallace-5581410.html|title=Obituary: Penny Wallace|work=The Independent|date=11 February 1997|access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref>

Wallace began to take his fiction writing career more seriously and signed with publishers [[Hodder and Stoughton]] in 1921, organising his contracts, instead of selling rights to his work piecemeal in order to raise funds. This allowed him advances, royalties, and full scale promotional campaigns for his books, which he had never before had. The publisher aggressively advertised him as a celebrity writer, "King of Thrillers", known for this trademark [[trilby]], [[cigarette holder]], and yellow [[Rolls-Royce Motor Cars|Rolls-Royce]]. He was said to be able to write a 70,000 word novel in three days and plough through three novels at once, and the publishers agreed to publish everything he wrote as fast as he could write them. In 1928, it was estimated that one in four books being read in the UK had come from Wallace's pen. He wrote across many genres including science fiction, screen plays, and a non-fiction ten-volume history of the [[First World War]].  All told, he wrote over 170 novels, 18 stage plays, and 957 short stories, and his works were translated into 28 languages.<ref Name="ODNB" /><ref Name=Lives /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.crimetime.co.uk/profiles/edgarwallace.php|title=Edgar Wallace profile|work=Crime Time|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211212/http://www.crimetime.co.uk/profiles/edgarwallace.php|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref><ref>Dixon (1998), p. 79</ref> The critic [[Wheeler Winston Dixon]] suggests that Wallace became somewhat of a public joke for this prodigious output.<ref Name=Dixon>{{cite book|title=The Transparency of Spectacle: Meditations on the Moving Image|author=Dixon, Wheeler W. |publisher= SUNY Press|date= 1998 |isbn= 978-0-7914-3781-0 |page= 72}}</ref>

Wallace served as chairman of the [[London Press Club|Press Club]], which continues to present an annual Edgar Wallace Award for excellence in writing.<ref Name="ODNB" />  Following the great success of his novel ''The Ringer'', Wallace was appointed chairman of the [[British Lion Film Corporation]] in return for giving British Lion first option on all his output.<ref Name=Ink /> Wallace's contract gave him an annual salary, a substantial block of stock in the company, a large stipend from everything British Lion produced based on his work, plus 10% of British Lion's overall annual profits.  Additionally, British Lion employed his elder son, Bryan E. Wallace, as a film editor. By 1929, Wallace's earnings were almost £50,000 per annum (equivalent to about £2 million in current terms). He also invented at this time the Luncheon Club,{{clarify|date=March 2021}} bringing together his two greatest loves: journalism and horse-racing.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

=== Firsts ===
Wallace was the first British crime novelist to use policemen as his protagonists{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}, rather than amateur sleuths as most other writers of the time did. Most of his novels are independent stand-alone stories; he seldom used series heroes, and when he did he avoided a strict story order, so that continuity was not required from book to book.

On 6 June 1923, Edgar Wallace became the first British radio [[Sports journalism|sports reporter]], when he made a report on [[Epsom Derby|The Derby]] for the [[British Broadcasting Company]], the newly founded predecessor of the [[BBC]].

=== Ivy's death ===
Wallace's ex-wife Ivy was diagnosed with [[breast cancer]] in 1923, and though the tumour was successfully removed, it returned terminally by 1925, and she died in 1926.

=== "The Canker In Our Midst" ===
Wallace wrote a controversial article in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' in 1926 entitled "The Canker In Our Midst" about [[paedophilia]] and the show business world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=McLaren|first1=Angus|title=Sexual Blackmail: A Modern History|date=2002|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=067400924X|pages=332|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pH_lZXP9LaMC&q=%22The+Canker+In+Our+Midst%22+wallace&pg=PA299}}</ref> Describing how some show business people unwittingly leave their children vulnerable to predators, it linked paedophilia with homosexuality and outraged many of his colleagues, publishing associates, and business friends including theatre mogul [[Gerald du Maurier]]. Biographer [[Margaret Lane]] describes it as an "intolerant, blustering, kick-the-blighters-down-the-stairs" type of essay, even by the standards of the day.<ref>Dixon (1998), p. 85</ref>

=== Politics, emigration to the U.S., and screenwriting ===
Wallace became active in the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] and contested [[Blackpool (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackpool]] in the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 general election]] as one of a handful of [[Independent Liberals (UK, 1931)|Independent Liberals]], who rejected the [[UK National Government|National Government]], and the official Liberal support for it, and strongly supported [[free trade]].<ref Name="ODNB" /> He also bought the ''[[Sunday News (UK)|Sunday News]]'', edited it for six months, and wrote a theatre column, before it closed.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,929781,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215031320/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,929781,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 December 2008|title= The Press: Odds & Ends|date= 31 August 1931|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> In the event, he lost the election by over 33,000 votes. He went to America, burdened by debt, in November 1931. Around the same time, he wrote the screenplay for the first sound film adaptation of ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932 film)|The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' (1932), produced in England by [[Gainsborough Pictures]].

He moved to Hollywood and began working as a "[[script doctor]]" for [[RKO Pictures|RKO]].<ref Name="ODNB" /> His later play, ''The Green Pack'', opened to excellent reviews, boosting his status even further. Wallace wanted to get his own work on Hollywood celluloid, and so he adapted books such as ''The Four Just Men'' and ''Mr J G Reeder''. In Hollywood, Wallace met [[Stanley Holloway]]'s scriptwriter, Wallace's own half-brother [[Marriott Edgar]]. Wallace's play ''[[On the Spot (play)|On the Spot]]'', written about gangster [[Al Capone]], would prove to be the writer's greatest theatrical success. It was described by Jack Adrian as "arguably, in construction, dialogue, action, plot and resolution, still one of the finest and purest of 20th-century melodramas".<ref Name=Obit>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Jenia Reissar|work=The Independent|date= 27 October 2000 |last=Adrian|first=Jack}}</ref> It launched the career of [[Charles Laughton]], who played the lead [[Al Capone|Capone]] character Tony Perelli.<ref Name=Obit />

== Death and aftermath ==

=== Death ===
In December 1931, Wallace was assigned work on the RKO "gorilla picture" (''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'', 1933) for producer [[Merian C. Cooper]]. By late January, however, he was beginning to suffer sudden, severe headaches and was diagnosed with [[diabetes]]. His condition deteriorated within days. Violet booked passage to California on a liner out of [[Southampton]], but received word that Edgar had slipped into a coma and died of the disease, combined with [[double pneumonia]], on 10 February 1932 in North Maple Drive, [[Beverly Hills]].<ref Name="ODNB" /> The flags on [[Fleet Street]]'s newspaper offices flew at half-mast, and the bell of [[St. Bride's Church|St. Bride's]] tolled in mourning.<ref Name=Lives /> His body was returned to England and he was buried at Little Marlow Cemetery, [[Fern, Buckinghamshire|Fern Lane]], Buckinghamshire, not far from his UK country home, Chalklands, in [[Bourne End, Buckinghamshire|Bourne End]].<ref Name=Burial>{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeologyinmarlow.org.uk/2011/05/edgar-wallace-the-king-of-thrillers/|title=Edgar Wallace, The King of Thrillers|publisher=Archaeology in Marlow|access-date=11 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614232844/http://www.archaeologyinmarlow.org.uk/2011/05/edgar-wallace-the-king-of-thrillers/|archive-date=14 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Aftermath ===
Despite his later success, Wallace had amassed massive debts, some still remaining from his years in South Africa, many to racing bookies. The large royalties from his greatly popular works allowed the estate to be settled within two years.<ref Name="ODNB" /><ref Name=Lives />

Violet Wallace outlived her husband by only 14 months. She died suddenly in April 1933, aged 33, while the estate was still deep in debt.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:The Edgar Wallace, Essex St, London - geograph.org.uk - 1377954.jpg|thumb|right|The Edgar Wallace pub, Essex Street, off [[Strand, London|Strand]], London]]
Violet Wallace's own will left her share of the Wallace estate to her daughter Penelope (1923–1997), herself an author of mystery and crime novels, who became the chief benefactor and shareholder. Penelope married George Halcrow in 1955. The couple ran the Wallace estate, managing her father's literary legacy and starting the Edgar Wallace Society in 1969.<ref Name=Lives /> The work is continued by Penelope's daughter, also named Penelope. The Society has members in 20 countries. The literary body is currently managed by the London agency A.P. Watt.

Wallace's eldest son [[Bryan Edgar Wallace]] (1904–1971) was also an author of mystery and crime novels. In 1934, Bryan married [[Margaret Lane]] (1907–94), also a writer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/21/obituaries/margaret-lane-86-british-writer-on-beatrix-potter-and-the-brontes.html|title = Margaret Lane, 86, British Writer on Beatrix Potter and the Brontes|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = 21 February 1994|last1 = Pace|first1 = Eric}}</ref> Lane's biography of Edgar Wallace was published in 1938<ref>Lane, Margaret (1938). Edgar Wallace: The Biography of a Phenomenon (Limited ed.). University of Michigan.</ref>

The ''Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine'' was a monthly digest-size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. It published 35 issues from 1964 to 1967. Each issue contained original works of short crime or mystery fiction as well as reprints by authors like Wallace, [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]], [[John Steinbeck|Steinbeck]], and [[Agatha Christie]].

More than 160 films and several radio adaptations have been made based on Wallace's work.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref Name=Ink>{{cite news |last=Fowler |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Fowler |date=23 October 2011 |title=Invisible Ink: No 99 – Edgar Wallace |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/invisible-ink-no-99--edgar-wallace-2374479.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> Wallace also has a [[The Edgar Wallace|pub]] named after him in Essex Street, off [[Strand, London|The Strand]] in London.

A blue plaque commemorating Wallace was erected in 1960 by the London County Council at 6 Tressillian Crescent in Lewisham,London, England where he once lived.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/edgar-wallace/|title=Edgar Wallace|work=English Heritage|access-date=2025-08-29|date=1960}}</ref>

== Writing ==

=== Method ===
Wallace narrated his words onto [[Phonograph cylinder|wax cylinders]] (the dictaphones of the day) and his secretaries typed up the text. This may be why he was able to work at such high speed and why his stories have narrative drive. Many of Wallace's successful books were dictated like this over two or three days, locked away with cartons of cigarettes and endless pots of sweet tea, often working pretty much uninterrupted in 72 hours. Most of his novels were serialised in segments but written in this way. The serialised stories that were instead written piecemeal have a distinctly different narrative energy, not sweeping up the reader on the story wave.<ref name="Dixon 1998 pp74-81">Dixon (1998) pp. 74–81</ref>

Wallace rarely edited his own work after it was dictated and typed up, but sent it straight to the publishers, intensely disliking the revision of his work with other editors. The company would do only cursory checks for factual errors before printing.<ref name="Dixon 1998 pp74-81" />

Wallace faced widespread accusations that he used ghost writers to churn out books, though there is no evidence of this, and his prolificness became something of a joke, the subject of cartoons and sketches. His "three day books", reeled off to keep the loan sharks from the door, were unlikely to garner great critical praise and Wallace claimed not to find literary value in his own works.<ref>Dixon (1998) pp. 74–79</ref>

=== Themes and critique ===
Selling over 50 million copies of his works, including 170 novels, Wallace was very much a populist writer, and was dismissed by the ''literati'' as such. [[Q. D. Leavis]], [[Arnold Bennett]] and [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] led the attack on Wallace, suggesting he offered no social critique or subversive agenda at all and distracted the reading public from better things.<ref>Dixon (1998) pp. 73–79</ref> [[Trotsky]], reading a Wallace novel whilst recuperating on his sickbed in 1935, found it to be "mediocre, contemptible and crude&nbsp;... [with no] shade of perception, talent or imagination."<ref>Dixon (1998) p. 87</ref> Critics Steinbrunner and Penzler stated that Wallace's writing is "slapdash and cliché-ridden, [with] characterization that is two dimensional and situations [that] are frequently trite, relying on intuition, coincidence, and much pointless, confusing movement to convey a sense of action. The heroes and villains are clearly labelled, and stock characters, humorous servants, baffled policemen, breathless heroines, could be interchanged from one book to another."<ref Name=Blood>''Blood on the Stage, 1925–1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection'', "Edgar Wallace", (2010) by Amnon Kabatchnik, Scarecrow Press, p15 {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6963-9}}</ref> ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' asserts, however, that "In all his works [Wallace] showed unusual precision of detail, narrative skill, and inside knowledge of police methods and criminal psychology, the fruits of his apprenticeship as a crime reporter".<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Hartnoll|editor-first=Phyllis|title=The Oxford Companion to the Theatre|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1985|orig-year=1983|page=876}}</ref>

George Orwell commented on Wallace in ''[[Raffles and Miss Blandish]]'': "His own ideal was the detective-inspector who catches criminals not because he is intellectually brilliant but because he is part of an all-powerful organization. Hence the curious fact that in Wallace's most characteristic stories the ‘clue’ and the ‘deduction’ play no part. The criminal is always defeated by an incredible coincidence, or because in some unexplained manner the police know all about the crime beforehand. The tone of the stories makes it quite clear that Wallace's admiration for the police is pure bully-worship. A Scotland Yard detective is the most powerful kind of being that he can imagine, while the criminal figures in his mind as an outlaw against whom anything is permissible, like the condemned slaves in the Roman arena. His policemen behave much more brutally than British policemen do in real life — they hit people with out provocation, fire revolvers past their ears to terrify them and so on — and some of the stories exhibit a fearful intellectual sadism. (For instance, Wallace likes to arrange things so that the villain is hanged on the same day as the heroine is married.)"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/chase/english/e_bland|title=Raffles and Miss Blandish|date=1944|access-date=23 July 2025|first=George|last=Orwell|language=en-gb}}</ref>

However, the use of plot formulae has been called into question by some. The critic [[Wheeler Winston Dixon]] maintains that Wallace covered a wide variety of perspectives and characterisations, exploring themes such as feminist self-determination (''Barbara on her Own'' 1926, ''Four-Square Jane'' 1929,  ''The Girl from Scotland Yard'' 1926), upsetting peerage hierarchies (''Chick'', 1923), science fiction (''The Day of Uniting'', 1926), schizophrenia (''The Man Who Knew'', 1919) and autobiography (''People'', 1926).<ref name="Dixon 1998 pp74-81" />

Wallace characters such as District Commissioner Sanders can be taken to represent the values of colonial white supremacy in Africa, and now are viewed by some {{who|date=October 2025}} as racist and paternalistic. His writing has been attacked by some for its conception of Africans as stupid children who need a firm hand.<ref>''The Popular Press Companion to Popular Literature'', Victor E. Neuburg, Popular Press, 1983, p196 {{ISBN|978-0-87972-233-3}}</ref> Sanders, for example, pledges to bring "civilisation" to "half a million cannibal folk".<ref Name=Lives /> [[George Orwell]] called Wallace a "bully worshipper" and "proto-fascist", though many critics conceived Wallace more as a populist writer who wrote for the market of the time.<ref Name=Lives />

=== Science fiction ===
Edgar Wallace enjoyed writing [[science fiction]] but found little financial success in the genre despite several efforts. His constant need for income always brought him back to the more mundane styles of fiction that sold more easily.<ref name="fantastic">{{cite journal |last=Moskowitz |first=Sam |title=Introduction, Planetoid 127 |journal=Fantastic Stories of Imagination |volume=11 |date=November 1962 |page=76}}</ref> ''[[Planetoid 127]]'', first published in 1924 but reprinted as late as 2011,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |title=Wallace, Edgar|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wallace_edgar}}</ref> is a short story about an Earth scientist who communicates via wireless with his counterpart on a duplicate Earth orbiting unseen because it is on the opposite side of the Sun. The idea of a "[[Counter-Earth|mirror Earth]]" or "[[mirror Universe]]" later became a standard subgenre within science fiction. The story also bears similarities to Rudyard Kipling's hard science fiction story "[[Wireless (short story)|Wireless]]". Wallace's other science fiction works include ''[[The Green Rust]]'', a story of bio-terrorists who threaten to release an agent that will destroy the world's corn crops, ''1925'', which accurately predicted that a short peace would be followed by a German attack on England, and ''The Black Grippe'', about a disease that renders everyone in the world blind. His last work of science fiction and the only one widely remembered today is the screenplay for ''King Kong''.

=== ''King Kong'' ===
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2018}}
{{weasel|section|date=November 2018}}
[[File:Kong screenplay 1932 Edgar Wallace.jpg|thumb|The cover of the original 1932 screenplay for the film ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'' by Edgar Wallace entitled "Kong".]]
Out of the many scripts he penned for RKO, Merian C. Cooper's "gorilla picture" had the most lasting influence, becoming the classic ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'' (1933).

Wallace wrote the initial 110-page first draft for "The Beast" (the film's original title) over five weeks, from late December 1931 to January 1932.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://private.betweenthecovers.com/Catalogs/422891_KingKong.pdf |title=Between the Cover. |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222184045/http://private.betweenthecovers.com/Catalogs/422891_KingKong.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In all, there were three draft versions, another titled "Kong". ''Kong'' was rejected as the film's title because it was too similar to another Cooper film, ''[[Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness|Chang]]'', released in 1927, and because it sounded Chinese. Wallace suggested the title ''King Ape''. His diary described the writing process for this draft: Cooper fed aspects of the story in conferences and phone conversations; Wallace then executed Cooper's ideas, the latter approving the developing script on a sequence-by-sequence basis. While working on the project, Cooper also screened various recent films for Wallace to put him in the right mindset, including ''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' (1931) and ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931). One of Cooper's main aspirations with the story was to use as much footage of an abandoned RKO picture with a similar premise, ''[[Creation (unfinished film)|Creation]]'', as possible. He showed Wallace the fragments that were to be reused in the current script.

Although the draft was incomplete, Wallace only made minor revisions to it, each at Cooper's request. In late January, Wallace was hospitalized, and by 10 February, he was dead, leaving Cooper without a screenwriter. The fragmentary nature of Wallace's script meant that the main dialogue-free action of the film (the jungle sequences) would have to be shot first, both as insurance and as a showreel for the board of RKO.

In ''My Hollywood Diary'', Edgar Wallace wrote about the reception of his screenplay: "Cooper called me up last night and told me that everybody who had read 'Kong' was enthusiastic. They say it is the best adventure story that has ever been written for the screen."<ref>Wallace, Edgar. ''My Hollywood Diary''. London: Hutchinson, 1932, p. 192.</ref> Wallace had high expectations for the film: "I am certain that 'Kong' is going to be a wow."<ref>Wallace (1932) p. 202</ref>

His screenplay begins with Denham and the party at the island, called "Vapour Island" by Wallace because of the volcanic emissions. Ann Darrow is called Shirley Redman in this early version. Jack Driscoll is also referred to as John Lanson or Johnny, and Captain Englehorn is much more domineering. Danby G. Denham is a promoter and a [[P. T. Barnum]] type showman who is looking for a giant ape to bring back to Madison Square Garden or the Polo Grounds to exhibit as a sideshow. The movie retains the Barnum theme when Denham, who evolved into Carl Denham in the Rose and Creelman treatment, refers to Kong as "the eighth wonder of the world", echoing Barnum's style of hyping acts. Wallace created the major characters, their relationships, and their role in the overall plot. He also created the story's beauty and the beast theme.

In his original screenplay, the crew of the boat consists of escaped convicts who kidnap Shirley. After a dinosaur attacks and wrecks their boat, they find refuge on the island. In a tent, a convict tries to rape Shirley. Kong appears, rescues Shirley and takes her away to his cave. Wallace says in a notation on the script that Kong is 30 feet tall, thus establishing Kong as a giant ape. John and the remaining convicts then go after Shirley, using a log to cross a ravine. Kong attacks them which leads to their deaths as the log crashes down the ravine. Kong fights and kills a triceratops. Dinosaurs and pterodactyls attack Kong and the party. Kong takes Shirley to his hideout in the mountains, and Jack rescues her. Using gas bombs, the expedition knocks out Kong.

Kong is brought back to New York and put in a cage. Shirley is attacked by lions and tigers let loose on purpose by Senorita. Kong kills the cats and whisks Shirley away. He climbs the Empire State Building where airplanes shoot at him. Cooper sent Wallace an internal memo from RKO suggesting that John dissuade the police from shooting Kong because of the danger to Shirley: "Please see if you consider it practical to work out theme that John attempts single handed rescue on top of Empire State Building if police will let off shooting for a minute." Kong is finally killed when lightning strikes the flag pole he is hanging on to. Early publicity stills for the movie have the title as "Kong" and "by Edgar Wallace" and show a lightning storm and flashes of lightning as envisioned by Wallace.

In his version, a small ape peeling a rose prefigured Kong's peeling away Shirley's clothes. His treatment also included an underwater scene from the attacking dinosaur's point of view as it approached a capsized boat.

However, his 110-page script was merely the first rough draft, not a final and completed shooting script.

After Wallace's death, Ruth Rose was brought in to work on the document he had started. She happened to be Schoedsack's wife and was able to translate the expectations of the producers into the final script. She added the ritual scene on Skull Island to replace Wallace's original idea of the attempted rape of Ann Darrow. Rose also added the opening scenes of the movie in which the main characters and plot are introduced. James Ashmore Creelman, who worked on the screenplay for ''The Most Dangerous Game'', a film that Wallace was in discussions to write for at the time of his death, was also brought in to tidy up the script. The job of Rose and Creelman was to rework Wallace's original screenplay and replace scenes that failed to translate as expected.

The original Wallace screenplay was published in the 2013 book ''Ray Harryhausen – The Master of the Majicks, Volume 1: Beginnings and Endings'' by Mike Hankin.<ref>Hankin, Mike. ''Ray Harryhausen – The Master of the Majicks, Vol. 1: Beginnings and Endings''. Los Angeles, CA: Archive Editions, 2013.</ref> In 2023, the original Wallace screenplay was published in ''KONG: An Original Screenplay by Edgar Wallace'' edited by Stephen Jones.<ref>Jones, Stephen. ''KONG: An Original Screenplay by Edgar Wallace'' (English and Russian Edition). PS Publishing, 2023.</ref>

That original screenplay is analysed and discussed in ''The Girl in the Hairy Paw'' (1976), edited by Ronald Gottesman and [[Harry M. Geduld|Harry Geduld]], and by Mark Cotta Vaz, in the preface to the Modern Library reissue of ''King Kong'' (2005).

In December 1932, Wallace's story and screenplay for ''King Kong'' were "novelised" or transcribed by Delos W. Lovelace, a journalist and author himself who knew Cooper from when they worked on a newspaper, and appeared in book form under the title ''King Kong''. Lovelace based the transcription largely on the Ruth Rose and James A. Creelman screenplay. This "novelization" of ''King Kong'', attributed to Wallace, Cooper, and Lovelace, was originally published by Grosset and Dunlap. The book was reissued in 2005 by the Modern Library, a division of Random House, with an introduction by Greg Bear and a preface by Mark Cotta Vaz, and by Penguin in the US. In the UK, Victor Gollancz published a hardcover version in 2005. The first paperback edition had been published by Bantam in 1965 in the US and by Corgi in 1966 in the UK. In 1976, Grosset and Dunlap republished the novel in paperback and hardcover editions. There were paperback editions by Tempo and by Futura that year as well. In 2005, Blackstone Audio released a spoken-word version of the book as an audiobook on CD with commentary by [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Harlan Ellison]], and [[Ray Harryhausen]], among others. Harryhausen stated that he had read the original screenplay by Wallace. There were also German and Czech versions of the novel in 2005.

On 28 October 1933, ''Cinema Weekly'' published the short story "King Kong", credited to Edgar Wallace and Draycott Montagu Dell (1888–1940). Dell had known Wallace as both worked for British newspapers. This can be called a "story-ization" of the Wallace and Cooper story which relied on the Rose and Creelman screenplay, but which like the Wallace treatment, begins at the island. Both Wallace and Cooper had signed a contract which allowed them to develop the story in a book or short story or serial form. Walter F. Ripperger also wrote a two-part serialization of the Wallace and Cooper story in ''Mystery'' magazine titled "King Kong" in the February and March issues in 1933.

=== West Germany ===
In 1959 Danish production company Rialto Film on behalf of West German distributor Constantin Film made "The Fellowship of the Frog" into a movie. The initial success prompted Rialto Film to establish a German subsidiary, securing the rights to most of Wallace's novels, and producing an additional 38 movies until 1972. During the time Wallace's eldest son Bryan as well had 10 of his novels adapted into movies by West Berlin-based production company CCC-Filmkunst. Both series were set in contemporary UK but filmed entirely in Western Germany and West Berlin. Although panned by critics the movies garnered a following with occasional reruns on German TV.

In 2004, [[Oliver Kalkofe]] produced the movie ''[[Der Wixxer]]'', an homage to the popular black and white Wallace movies. It featured many well known comedians. In 2007, Kalkofe produced a sequel ''{{ill|Neues vom Wixxer|de}}''.

There are more of Wallace's books still in print in Germany than elsewhere and his work has consistently remained popular there.<ref Name="Home" />

== Literary works ==

=== Sanders of the River series ===
*''Sanders of the River'' (1911) - short stories published in ''The Weekly Tale-Teller'', [[Sanders of the River|filmed in 1935]]
*''The People of the River'' (1911) - short stories published in ''The Weekly Tale-Teller'' 
* ''[[The River of Stars (novel)|The River of Stars]]'' (1913) - full-length novel featuring a cameo appearance by Sanders.
*''Bosambo of the River'' (1914) - short stories published in ''The Weekly Tale-Teller'' 
*''Bones'' (1915) - short stories published in ''The Weekly Tale-Teller'' 
*''The Keepers of the King's Peace'' (1917) - short stories published in ''[[The Windsor Magazine]]'' 
*''Lieutenant Bones'' (1918) - short stories published in ''The Windsor Magazine'' 
*''Bones in London'' (1921) - short stories published in ''The Windsor Magazine'' 
*''Sandi the Kingmaker'' (1922) - full-length novel serialised in ''The Windsor Magazine'' 
*''Bones of the River'' (1923) - short stories published in ''The 20-Story Magazine''
*''Sanders'' (1926) - short story collection
*''Again Sanders'' (1928) - short story collection
The series was posthumously continued by Francis Gérard -
*''The Return of Sanders of the River'' - short story collection (1938)
*''The Law of the River'' - short story collection (1940)
*''The Justice of Sanders'' - short story collection (1951)

=== Four Just Men series ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[The Four Just Men (novel)|The Four Just Men]]'' (1905)
*''[[The Council of Justice]]'' (1908)
*''[[The Just Men of Cordova]]'' (1917)
*''[[The Law of the Four Just Men]]'' (1921)
*''[[The Three Just Men]]'' (1925)
*''[[Again the Three]]'' (1928)
{{div col end}}

=== Mr. J. G. Reeder series ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Room 13 (Wallace novel)|Room 13]]'' (1924)
*''[[The Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder]]'' (US title: ''The Murder Book of Mr. J. G. Reeder'') (1925)
*''[[Terror Keep]]'' (1927)
*''[[Red Aces]]'' (1929)<ref name="movie director">Wallace also directed the movie</ref>
*''The Crook in Crimson'' (1929)
*''[[The Guv'nor and Other Short Stories]]'' (US title: ''Mr. Reeder Returns'') (1932)
{{div col end}}

=== Elk of Scotland Yard series ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[The Nine Bears]]'' (1910) revised as ''Silinski – Master Criminal'' (1930)
*''[[The Fellowship of the Frog]]'' (1925) adapted as ''[[The Frog (film)|The Frog]]'', spawned a sequel ''[[Return of the Frog]]''
*''The Joker'' or ''The Colossus'' (1926)
*''The Twister'' (1928)
*''[[The India-Rubber Men]]'' (1929) adapted as ''[[The Return of the Frog]]''
*''White Face'' (1930)
{{div col end}}

=== Educated Evans series ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''Educated Evans'' (1924)
*''More Educated Evans'' (1926)
*''Good Evans'' (1927)
{{div col end}}

=== Smithy series ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''Smithy'' (1905)
*''Smithy Abroad'' (1909)
*''Smithy and The Hun'' (1915)
*''Nobby'' or ''Smithy's Friend Nobby'' (1916)
{{div col end}}

=== Crime novels ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Angel Esquire (novel)|Angel Esquire]]'' (1908)
*''[[The Fourth Plague]]'' (1913)
*''[[Grey Timothy]]'' (1913)
*''[[The Man Who Bought London (novel)|The Man Who Bought London]]'' (1915)
*''[[The Melody of Death]]'' (1915)
*''[[A Debt Discharged]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Tomb of Ts'in]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Secret House]]'' (1917)
*''[[The Clue of the Twisted Candle]]'' (1918)
*''[[Down Under Donovan (novel)|Down Under Donovan]]'' (1918)
*''[[The Man Who Knew (novel)|The Man Who Knew]]'' (1918)
*''The Strange Lapses of Larry Loman'' (1918) (short novelette)
*''[[The Green Rust]]'' (1919)
*''[[Kate Plus Ten (novel)|Kate Plus Ten]]'' (1919)
*''[[The Daffodil Mystery]]'' (1920)
*''[[Jack O'Judgment]]'' (1920)
*''[[The Angel of Terror]]'' (1922)
*''[[The Crimson Circle (novel)|The Crimson Circle]]'' (1922)
*''[[Mr. Justice Maxell]]'' (1922)
*''[[The Valley of Ghosts (novel)|The Valley of Ghosts]]'' (1922)
*''[[Captains of Souls]]'' (1923)
*''[[The Clue of the New Pin (novel)|The Clue of the New Pin]]'' (1923)
*''[[The Green Archer (novel)|The Green Archer]]'' (1923)
*''[[The Missing Million (novel)|The Missing Million]]'' (1923)
*''[[The Dark Eyes of London (novel)|The Dark Eyes of London]]'' (expanded from ''The Croakers'' (1924))
*''[[Double Dan (novel)|Double Dan]]'' (1924) a.k.a. ''Diana of Kara Kara''
*''[[The Face in the Night]]''  (1924)
*''[[The Sinister Man]]'' (1924)
*''[[The Three Oak Mystery]]'' (1924)
*''[[The Avenger (novel)|The Avenger]] or The Hairy Arm'' (1925)
*''[[The Blue Hand]]'' (1925)
*''The Daughters of the Night'' (1925)
*''The Gaunt Stranger'' or ''Police Work'' (1925)
**revised as ''The Ringer'' (1926)
*''A King by Night'' (1925)
*''[[The Strange Countess (novel)|The Strange Countess]]'' (1925)
*''[[The Black Abbot (book)|The Black Abbot]]'' (1926)
*''The Day of Uniting'' (1926)
*''The Door with Seven Locks'' (1926)
*''The Girl from Scotland Yard'' or ''The Square Emerald'' or ''The Woman'' (1926)
*''The Man from Morocco'' or ''Souls In Shadows'' or ''The Black'' (US Title) (1926)
*''The Million Dollar Story'' (1926)
*''[[The Northing Tramp]]'' (1926)
*''Penelope of the Polyantha'' (1926)
*''[[The Terrible People (novel)|The Terrible People]]'' or ''The Gallows' Hand'' (1926)
*''We Shall See!'' (US title: ''The Gaol-Breakers'') (1926)
*''[[The Yellow Snake]]'', a.k.a. ''The Black Tenth'' (1926)
*''[[The Big Foot|Big Foot]]'' (1927)
*''The Feathered Serpent'' or ''Inspector Wade'' or ''Inspector Wade and the Feathered Serpent'' (1927)
*''Flat 2'' (1927)
*''The Forger'' or ''The Counterfeiter'' (1927);<ref>{{cite book|author=Edgar Wallace|title=The Forger|location=London|publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton|Hodder and Stoughton]]|year=1927|oclc=1106373656}}</ref> published in the United States as ''The Clever One'' (1928)<ref>{{cite book|author=Edgar Wallace|title=The Clever One|url=https://archive.org/details/cleverone0000edga/page/n4/mode/1up|edition=1st American|location=Garden City, N.Y.|publisher=[[The Crime Club]], [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday, Doran & Company]]|year=1928|oclc=220719254}}</ref>
*''The Hand of Power'' or ''The Proud Sons of Ragusa'' (1927)
*''The Man Who Was Nobody'' (1927)
*''Number Six'' (1927)
*''[[The Squeaker (novel)|The Squeaker]]'' or ''The Sign of the Leopard'' (US title: ''The Squealer'') (1927)
*''[[The Traitor's Gate]]'' (1927)
*''The Double'' (1928)
*''The Flying Squad'' (1928)
*''[[The Gunner]]'' (US title: ''Gunman's Bluff'') (1928)
*''[[Four Square Jane]]'' (1929)
*''The Golden Hades'' or ''Stamped In Gold'' or ''The Sinister Yellow Sign'' (1929)
*''[[The Green Ribbon (novel)|The Green Ribbon]]'' (1929)
*''[[The Calendar (novel)|The Calendar]]'' (1930)
*''[[The Clue of the Silver Key]]'' or ''The Silver Key'' (1930)
*''[[The Lady of Ascot]]'' (1930)
*''The Devil Man'' or ''Sinister Street'' or ''Silver Steel'' or ''The Life and Death of Charles Peace'' (1931)
*''[[The Man at the Carlton]]'' or ''The Mystery of Mary Grier'' (1931)
*''The Coat of Arms'' or ''The Arranways Mystery'' (1931)
*''On the Spot: Violence and Murder in Chicago'' (1931)
*''When the Gangs Came to London'' or ''Scotland Yard's Yankee Dick'' or ''The Gangsters Come To London'' (1932)
*''The Frightened Lady'' or ''The Case of the Frightened Lady'' or ''Criminal At Large'' (1933)
*''The Green Pack'' (1933)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis">novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis</ref>
*''The Man Who Changed His Name'' (1935)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis" />
*''The Mouthpiece'' (1935)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis" />
*''Smoky Cell'' (1935)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis" />
*''The Table'' (1936)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis" />
*''Sanctuary Island'' (1936)<ref name="novelised from Wallace's play by Robert George Curtis" />
*''The Road to London'' (1986)
{{div col end}}

=== Other novels ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Captain Tatham of Tatham Island]]'' (1909)
*''[[The Duke in the Suburbs]]'' (1909)
*''[[Private Selby]]'' (1912)
*''[["1925" – The Story of a Fatal Peace]]'' (1915)
*''[[Those Folk of Bulboro]]'' (1918)
*''Tam o' the Scoots'' (1918)
*''[[The Book of All Power]]'' (1921)
*''[[The Flying Fifty-Five (novel)|The Flying Fifty-Five]]'' (1922)
*''The Books of Bart'' (1923)
*''[[Barbara on Her Own]]'' (1926)
{{div col end}}

=== Poetry collections ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''The Mission That Failed'' (1898)
*''War and Other Poems'' (1900)
*''Writ In Barracks'' (1900)
{{div col end}}

=== Non-fiction ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''Unofficial Despatches of the Anglo-Boer War'' (1901)
*''Famous Scottish Regiments'' (1914)
*''Field Marshal Sir John French'' (1914)
*''Heroes All: Gallant Deeds of the War'' (1914)
*''The Standard History of the War'' (1914)
*''Kitchener's Army and the Territorial Forces: The Full Story of a Great Achievement'' (1915)
*''Vol. 2–4. War of the Nations'' (1915)
*''Vol. 5–7. War of the Nations'' (1916)
*''Vol. 8–9. War of the Nations'' (1917)
*''Famous Men and Battles of the British Empire'' (1917)
*''The Real Shell-Man: The Story of Chetwynd of Chilwell'' (1919)
*''People'' or ''Edgar Wallace by Himself'' (1926)
*''The Trial of Patrick Herbert Mahon'' (1928)
*''My Hollywood Diary'' (1932)
{{div col end}}

=== Plays ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[An African Millionaire]]'' (1904)
*''The Forest of Happy Dreams'' (1910)
*''Dolly Cutting Herself'' (1911)
*''The Manager's Dream'' (1914)
*''[[M'Lady (play)|M'Lady]]'' (1921)
*''The Mystery of room 45'' (1926)
*''[[Double Dan (play)|Double Dan]]'' (1927)
*''A Perfect Gentleman'' (1927)
*''[[The Terror (play)|The Terror]]'' (1927) based on the novel ''The Black Abbot''
*''Traitors Gate'' (1927)
*''The Lad'' (1928)
*''[[The Man Who Changed His Name (play)|The Man Who Changed His Name]]'' (1928)
*''The Squeaker'' (1928)<ref name="movie director" />
*''[[The Calendar (play)|The Calendar]]'' (1929)
*''[[Persons Unknown (play)|Persons Unknown]]'' (1929)
*''The Ringer'' (1929)
*''[[The Mouthpiece (play)|The Mouthpiece]]'' (1930)
*''[[On the Spot (play)|On the Spot]]'' (1930)
*''[[Smoky Cell]]'' (1930)
*''The Squeaker'' (1930)
*''To Oblige A Lady'' (1930)
*''The Case of the Frightened Lady'' (1931)
*''[[The Old Man (Wallace play)|The Old Man]]'' (1931)
*''The Green Pack'' (1932)
*''The Table'' (1932)
{{div col end}}

=== Screenplays ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[The Valley of Ghosts (film)|The Valley of Ghosts]]'' (1928, British film)
*''[[Mark of the Frog]]'' (1928, American film)
*''[[Prince Gabby]]'' (1929, British film)
*''[[The Squeaker (1930 film)|The Squeaker]]'' (1930, British film)
*''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932 film)|The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' (1932, British film)
*''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'' (1932, 5 January 1932, first draft of original screenplay entitled "The Beast", 110 pages) While the script was not used in its entirety, much of it was retained for the final screenplay. Portions of the original Wallace screenplay were published in 1976. The complete original screenplay was published in 2013 in ''Ray Harryhausen – The Master of the Majicks, Vol. 1'' by Archive Editions in Los Angeles. The Delos Lovelace transcription remains the official book-length treatment of the story.
{{div col end}}

=== Short story collections ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''P.C. Lee'' (1909) Police Constable Lee; 24 short stories
*''The Admirable Carfew'' (1914)
*''The Adventures of Heine'' (1917)
*''Tam O' the Scouts'' (1918)
*''The Man Called McGinnice'' (1918)
*''The Fighting Scouts'' (1919)
*''The Black Grippe'' (1920)
*''Chick'' (1923)
*''Elegant Edward'' (1924)
*''The Exploits of Airman Hay'' (1924)
*''The Black Avons'' (1925)
*''The Brigand'' (1927)
*''The Mixer'' (1927)
*''This England'' (1927)
*''The Orator'' (1928)
*''The Thief in the Night'' (1928)
*''The Lone House Mystery and Other Stories'' (Collins and son, 1929)
*''The Governor of Chi-Foo'' (1929)
*''Again the Ringer'' ''The Ringer Returns'' (US Title) (1929)
*''The Big Four'' or ''Crooks of Society'' (1929)
*''The Black'' or ''Blackmailers I Have Foiled'' (1929)
*''The Cat-Burglar'' (1929)
*''Circumstantial Evidence'' (1929)
*''Fighting Snub Reilly'' (1929)
*''For Information Received'' (1929)
*''Forty-Eight Short Stories'' (1929)
*''Planetoid 127 and The Sweizer Pump'' (1929)
*''The Ghost of Down Hill & The Queen of Sheba's Belt'' (1929)
*''The Iron Grip'' (1929)
*''The Lady of Little Hell'' (1929)
*''The Little Green Man'' (1929)
*''The Prison-Breakers'' (1929)
*''The Reporter'' (1929)
*''Killer Kay'' (1930)
*''Mrs William Jones and Bill'' (1930)
*'' Forty Eight Short-Stories'' (George Newnes Limited ca. 1930)
*''The Stretelli Case and Other Mystery Stories'' (1930)
*''The Terror'' (1930)
*''The Lady Called Nita'' (1930)
*''Sergeant Sir Peter'' or ''Sergeant Dunn, C.I.D.'' (1932)
*''The Scotland Yard Book of Edgar Wallace'' (1932)
*''The Steward'' (1932)
*''Nig-Nog And Other Humorous Stories'' (1934)
*''The Last Adventure'' (1934)
*''The Woman From the East'' (1934)  – co-written with Robert George Curtis
*''The Edgar Wallace Reader of Mystery and Adventure'' (1943)
*''The Undisclosed Client'' (1963)
*''The Man Who Married His Cook'' (White Lion, 1976)
*''The Death Room: Strange and Startling Stories'' (1986)
*''The Sooper and Others'' (1984)
*''Stories collected in the Death Room'' (William Kimber, 1986)
*''Winning Colours: The Selected Racing Writings of Edgar Wallace'' (1991)
*''The Vampire of Wembley: and Other Tales of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem'' (2023)
{{div col end}}

=== Other ===
*''King Kong'', with Draycott M. Dell, (1933 posthumously), 28 October 1933 ''Cinema Monthly''

== Films based on works by Edgar Wallace ==
{{main|Films based on works by Edgar Wallace}}
See also ''[[Edgar Wallace Mysteries]]''<br />
See also ''[[Bryan Edgar Wallace]]'' Filmography

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Clark, Neil [https://books.google.com/books?id=cGS1BAAAQBAJ ''Stranger than Fiction: The Life of Edgar Wallace, the Man Who Created King Kong''], (The History Press, October 2014 (UK), February 2015 (US)) {{ISBN|978-0-7524-9882-9}}
* Cox, J.R. "Edgar Wallace", in ''British Mystery Writers, 1860–1919'', ed. B. Benstock, B. and Staley, T.F. (1988)
* Curtis, Robert ''Edgar Wallace Each Way'' by  (John Long, 1932)
* Hankin, Mike ''Ray Harryhausen – Master of the Majicks, Volume 1: Beginnings and Endings'' (Archive Editions, LLC, 2013). Contains the complete first draft of the Kong screenplay by Edgar Wallace.
* Jones, Stephen. ''KONG: An Original Screenplay by Edgar Wallace.'' (English and Russian Edition). PS Publishing, 2023.
* Kabatchnik, Ammon "Edgar Wallace" in ''Blood on the Stage, 1925–1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection'' (Scarecrow Press, 2010) pp.&nbsp;7–16 {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6963-9}}
* Lane, Margaret ''Edgar Wallace, The Biography of a Phenomenon'' (William Heinemann, October 1938). Revised and reprinted in 1965. An abridged version was issued in ''Reader's Digest'', Vol. 34, No. 205, May 1939.
* Lofts, W.O.G. and Adley, D. ''The British Bibliography of Edgar Wallace'' (1969)
* Nolan, J.E "Edgar Wallace" in ''Films in Review'', 18 (1967), 71–85
* Wallace, E. ''People: A Short Autobiography'' (1926)
* Wallace, E ''My Hollywood Diary'' (1932)
* Wallace, Ethel V. ''Edgar Wallace by His Wife'' (Hutchinson, 1932)

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
;Online editions
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-wallace}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=999| name=Edgar Wallace}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Wallace, (Richard Horatio) Edgar|name=(Richard Horatio) Edgar Wallace|author=yes}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#letterW Works by Edgar Wallace at Project Gutenberg Australia]
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Edgar Wallace}}
* {{Librivox author |id=2079}}

;Other references
*{{IMDb name|0908624}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0120990|title=The Mixer (1992 TV series)}}
* {{Screenonline name|id=451276|name=Edgar Wallace}}
* {{LCAuth|n80034938|Edgar Wallace|252|ue}}

;Other links
*[http://www.edgarwallace.org/ The Edgar Wallace Society], founded in 1969 by his daughter, Penelope Wallace
*[http://www.hidden-london.com/ashburnham.html House where Edgar Wallace was born]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060302055900/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/brockley/tresillian-crescent.htm Former London home of Edgar Wallace]

{{Edgar Wallace}}

{{Marriott Edgar}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Edgar}}
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