Earl Derr Biggers

The son of Robert J. and Emma E. (Derr) Biggers, Earl Derr Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard University in 1907. He worked as a journalist for The Plain Dealer before turning to fiction. Many of his plays and novels were made into movies.His novel 'Seven Keys to Baldpate' was popular in 1913, and George M. Cohan quickly adapted the novel as a hit Broadway stage play of the same name. Cohan starred in the 1917 film version, one of seven film versions of the play, and a 1935 revival. The novel was also adapted into two films with different titles, 'House of the Long Shadows' and 'Haunted Honeymoon', but they had essentially equivalent plots. More than 10 years after 'Baldpate', Biggers had even greater success with his series of Charlie Chan detective novels. The popularity of Charlie Chan extended even to China and Chinese companies made films starring this fictional character. Derr Biggers publicly acknowledged the real-life detective Chang Apana as the inspiration for the character of Charlie Chan in his letter to the Honolulu Advertiser of June 28, 1932. Biggers lived in San Marino, California, and died in a Pasadena, California hospital after suffering a heart attack in Palm Springs, California. He was 48.