Biography for
James Ellroy

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The brutal murder of his mother, Jean Ellroy, in 1958, was the basis of his 1996 memoir "My Dark Places".

"The Black Dahlia" (1987) was his seventh novel. It was based on the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. The same case was also the basis for John Gregory Dunne's 1977 novel and later movie True Confessions (1981) with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall ). Black Dahlia was the first novel in a series to become known as "The L.A. Quartet." "L.A. Confidential," "White Jazz," and "The Big Nowhere" are the other novels in the quartet.

Prior to his success, he used to work as a golf caddy at the Bel Air Country Club.

Is an avid fan of ex-LAPD officer turned novelist Joseph Wambaugh.

Is a good friend of crime novelist Edward Bunker.

Is a huge supporter of the Los Angeles Police Department. He also has several friends on the force, like robbery-homicide Detective Rick Jackson and L.A. County Sheriff William Stoner.

His first unpublished novel was titled "L.A. Death Trap", which was later revised to give the first drafts of "Blood on the Moon", "Because the Night" and "Suicide Hill", three novels also known as the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy.

Wrote several scripts that never got made. Among others: White Heat, the remake of Raoul Walsh's classic; 77, a tough police drama set in South Central dealing with the SLA shootout with SWAT in the seventies; White Jazz, an adaptation of his own crime novel; and Mr. Smith, a film noir inspired by the real-life activities of LAPD firearms expert Richard Smith.

Was asked by his editor to shorten his novel "White Jazz" from 900 pages to 350. Rather than removing sub-plots, Ellroy achieved this by eliminating verbs, creating a unique style of prose.

Personal Quotes

I'm happy for the money. I'm happy for the exposure... Every once in a while there's lightning in a bottle like with 'L.A. Confidential (1997)' so we'll see what happens with The Black Dahlia (2006). Even bad movies create substantial readership for your books.

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