Elmore Leonard

Leonard, Elmore (1925– ), American writer, born in New Orleans, and educated at the University of Detroit. He began his literary career writing westerns, but as the cult of the western declined he moved to crime writing, producing many titles, including City Primeval (1980), Glitz (1985), Freaky Deaky (1988), Get Shorty (1990), and Rum Punch (1992). Admired for his terse dialogue, vividly observed locations, laconic wit and short scenes of direct action, he has been acclaimed as the heir to Hammett and Chandler, and many of his works have been successfully filmed.

Elmore Leonard (John Elmore Leonard), 1925-, American novelist, b. New Orleans. Leonard, who is nicknamed "Dutch," began publishing Western tales in the early 1950s, the best known of which is the short novel Hombre (1961; film, 1967). His first crime novel, The Big Bounce, was published in 1969; he since has contributed numerous novels and short stories to the genre. Leonard developed a gritty realism in style and setting (often Detroit), a hard-boiled and tough-talking cast of outsider characters, and a deadpan humor that has made him one of America's top crime writers. Many of his novels have become films, frequently with his own screenplays. Among the most popular of his more than 40 books are Fifty-two Pickup (1974; film, 1984 and 1986), Stick (1983; film, 1985), LaBrava (1983), Glitz (1985), Get Shorty (1990; film, 1995), Maximum Bob (1990; television series, 1998), Rum Punch (1992), Out of Sight (1996; film, 1998), Cuba Libre (1998), Be Cool (1999; film, 2005), Tishomingo Blues (2002), Mr. Paradise (2004), and The Hot Kid (2005).

Bibliography: See biographies by D. Geherin (1989), J. E. Devlin (1999), and P. C. Challen (2000); documentary, Elmore Leonard's Criminal Records (1991), by M. Dibb and R. Horsley.