Elmore Leonard

His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are Hombre, Swag, City Primeval, LaBrava, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight and Tishomingo Blues. Leonard's short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" was adapted as the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Rum Punch was adapted as the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown (1997). Steven Soderbergh adapted Out of Sight in 1998 into a film of the same name. Get Shorty was adapted into an eponymous film in 1995 and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. His writings were also the basis for The Tall T, as well as the FX television series Justified and Justified: City Primeval. Among other honors, he won the 2009 Pen Lifetime Award and the 2012 Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Elmore Leonard studied at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy and University of Detroit Mercy. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are detective fiction and Western. Ernest Hemingway is recorded as an influence. Residence is recorded at Michigan and Louisiana. Works named in the authority record are Raylan Givens, The Bounty Hunters, Law at Randado, Escape from Five Shadows, Last Stand at Saber River and Hombre. Distinctions recorded are Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation, Hammett Prize and Michigan Author Award.

• Birth Name — Elmore John Leonard Jr. • Born — 11 October 1925 • Birthplace — New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. • Died — 20 August 2013 • Place of death — Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S. • Occupation — Writer • Genre — * Pulp fiction • Westerns • Crime fiction • Education — University of Detroit • Relatives — Megan Freels Johnston (granddaughter) • Children — 5, including Peter

Leonard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Flora Amelia (née Rive) and Elmore John Leonard. Because his father worked as a site locator for General Motors, the family moved frequently for several years. In 1934, the family settled in Detroit. In the 1930s, there were two news items that would influence many of Leonard's works. From 1931, until they were killed in May 1934, gangsters Bonnie and Clyde were on a rampage. In 1934, the baseball team the Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series, winning the Series in 1935. Leonard developed lifelong fascinations with sports and crime. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943 and, after being rejected for the Marines for weak eyesight, immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the South Pacific, where he got the nickname "Dutch", after Tigers pitcher Dutch Leonard. Enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1946, on the G.I. Bill, he pursued writing more seriously, entering short stories in contests and submitting them to magazines for publication. He graduated in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy. A year before he graduated, he got a job as a copy writer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising Agency, a position he kept for several years, writing on the side.

Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy magazine published his short story "Trail of the Apaches". During the 1950s and early '60s, he continued writing Westerns, publishing more than 30 short stories. His debut novel, The Bounty Hunters, was published in 1953 and was followed by four more Westerns. His early work already showed his affection for outsiders and underdogs. He developed his characters through dialogue, each defined by their manner of speech. In many stories, he favored Arizona and New Mexico as settings. Five of his westerns were adapted as movies before 1972: The Tall T (1957), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Hombre (1967), Valdez Is Coming (1971), and Joe Kidd (1972). In 1969, his first crime story, The Big Bounce, was published by Gold Medal Books. Leonard differed from well-known names writing in this genre—he was less interested in melodrama than in his characters and in realistic dialogue. He wrote the screenplay for, and the novelization of, Mr. Majestyk (both 1974); Anthony Lane called the latter "the best novel ever written about a melon grower." The stories were often located in Detroit but he also liked to use South Florida as a setting. LaBrava, a 1983 novel set in the latter locale, was praised in a New York Times review, which said Leonard moved from mystery suspense short story writer to novelist. His next novel, Glitz (1985), an Atlantic City gambling story, was his breakout in the crime genre. It spent 16 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, and his subsequent crime novels were all bestsellers. In his review of Glitz, Stephen King placed Leonard in the company of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and John D. MacDonald. Leonard believed that his books during the 1980s were becoming funnier and that he was developing a style that was more free and easy. His own favorites were Freaky Deaky (1988), about ex-hippie criminals, and the Dixie Mafia story Tishomingo Blues (2002). Some of Leonard's characters appear in several novels, including mobster Chili Palmer, bank robber Jack Foley and the U. S. Marshals Carl Webster and Raylan Givens. At the time of his death his novels had sold tens of millions of copies. Among film adaptations of his work are Jackie Brown, (1997), based on Rum Punch and described as an "homage to the author's trademark rhythm and pace"; Get Shorty (1995); Out of Sight (1998) and the TV series Justified (2010–2015) and Justified: City Primeval (2023). Nearly thirty movies were made from Leonard's novels, but for some critics his special style worked best in print.

He married Beverly Clare Cline in 1949 and had five children with her—two daughters and three sons —before divorcing in 1977. His second marriage in 1979, to Joan Leanne Lancaster (aka Joan Shepard), ended with her death in 1993. Later that same year, he married Christine Kent; they divorced in 2012. Leonard spent the last years of his life with his family in Oakland County, Michigan. He suffered a stroke on July 29, 2013. Initial reports stated that he was recovering, but on August 20, 2013, Leonard died at his home in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills of stroke complications. He was 87 years old. One of Leonard's grandchildren is Alex Leonard, the drummer in the Detroit band Protomartyr.

• Year — Novel — Film adaptation — ISBN • 1953 — The Bounty Hunters • 1954 — The Law at Randado — 1990 – Border Shootout • 1956 — Escape from Five Shadows • 1959 — Last Stand at Saber River — 1997 – Last Stand at Saber River • 1961 — Hombre — 1967 – Hombre • 1969 — The Big Bounce — 1969 – The Big Bounce 2004 – The Big Bounce • The Moonshine War — 1970 – The Moonshine War • 1970 — Valdez Is Coming — 1971 – Valdez Is Coming • 1972 — Forty Lashes Less One • 1974 — Mr. Majestyk — 1974 – Mr. Majestyk • 52 Pickup — 1984 – The Ambassador 1986 – 52 Pick-Up • 1976 — Swag • 1977 — Unknown Man No. 89 • The Hunted • 1978 — The Switch — 2013 – Life of Crime • 1979 — Gunsights • 1980 — City Primeval — 2023 – TV Series Justified: City Primeval • Gold Coast — 1997 – TV movie • 1981 — Split Images — 1992 – TV movie • 1982 — Cat Chaser — 1989 – Cat Chaser • 1983 — Stick — 1985 – Stick • LaBrava Edgar Award, Best Novel (1984) • 1985 — Glitz — 1988 – TV movie • 1987 — Bandits • Touch — 1997 – Touch • 1988 — Freaky Deaky — 2012 – Freaky Deaky • 1989 — Killshot — 2008 – Killshot • 1990 — Get Shorty — 1995 – Get Shorty 2017 – TV series Get Shorty • 1991 — Maximum Bob — 1998 – TV series Maximum Bob • 1992 — Rum Punch — 1997 – Jackie Brown • 1993 — Pronto — 1997 – TV movie 2010 – TV series Justified • 1995 — Riding the Rap — 2010 – TV series Justified • 1996 — Out of Sight — 1998 – Out of Sight 2003 – TV series Karen Sisco • 1998 — Cuba Libre • 1999 — Be Cool — 2005 – Be Cool • 2000 — Pagan Babies • 2002 — Tishomingo Blues • 2004 — Mr. Paradise • A Coyote's in the House • 2005 — The Hot Kid • 2006 — Comfort to the Enemy Published serially in The New York Times • 2007 — Up in Honey's Room • 2009 — Road Dogs • 2010 — Djibouti • 2012 — Raylan — 2010 – TV series Justified Leonard also contributed one chapter (the twelfth of thirteen) to the 1996 Miami Herald parody serial novel Naked Came the Manatee.

• Year — Story — First appearance — Film adaptation • 1951-12 — "Trail of the Apache" — Argosy • 1952-05 — "Apache Medicine" — Dime Western Magazine • 1952-09 — "You Never See Apaches..." — Dime Western Magazine • 1952-10 — "Red Hell Hits Diablo Canyon" — 10 Story Western Magazine • 1952-11 — "The Colonel's Lady" — Zane Grey's Western • 1952-12 — "Law of the Hunted Ones" — Western Story Magazine • 1952-12 — "Cavalry Boots" — Zane Grey's Western • 1953-01 — "Under the Friar's Ledge" — Dime Western Magazine • 1953-02 — "The Rustlers" — Zane Grey's Western • 1953-03 — "Three-Ten to Yuma" — Dime Western Magazine — 1957 – 3:10 to Yuma 2007 – 3:10 to Yuma • 1953-04 — "The Big Hunt" — Western Story Magazine • 1953-05 — "Long Night" — Zane Grey's Western • 1953-06 — "The Boy Who Smiled" — Gunsmoke • 1953-08 — "The Hard Way" — Zane Grey's Western • 1953-09 — "The Last Shot" — Fifteen Western Tales • 1953-10 — "Blood Money" — Western Story Magazine • 1953-10 — "Trouble at Rindo's Station" — Argosy • 1954-10 — "Saint with a Six-Gun" — Argosy • 1955-02 — "The Captives" — Argosy — 1957 – The Tall T • 1955-08 — "No Man's Guns" — Western Story Roundup • 1955-09 — "The Rancher's Lady" — Western Magazine • 1955-12 — "Jugged" — Western Magazine • 1956-04-21 — "Moment of Vengeance" — Saturday Evening Post • 1956-09 — "Man with the Iron Arm" — Complete Western Book • 1956-10 — "The Longest Day of His Life" — Western Novel and Short Stories • 1956-11 — "The Nagual" — 2-Gun Western • 1956-12 — "The Kid" — Western Short Stories • 1958-06 — "The Treasure of Mungo's Landing" — True Adventures • 1961 — "Only Good Ones" — Western Roundup — Later expanded to the novel and adapted as Valdez is Coming • 1982 — "The Tonto Woman" — Roundup — 2007 – Academy Awards nominated Live Action Short • 1994 — "Hurrah for Captain Early!" — New Trails • 1996 — "Karen Makes Out" — Murder For Love – Delacorte Press 1996 — First episode in Karen Sisco TV series • 2001 — "Fire in the Hole" — ebook — 2010 – TV series Justified • 2001 — "Chickasaw Charlie Hoke" — Murderers' Row: Original Baseball Mysteries • 2005 — "Louly and Pretty Boy" — Dangerous Women - Mysterious Press 1996 • 2012 — "Chick Killer" — McSweeney's - Issue 39

• Year — Title — Director — Co-writers • 1970 — The Moonshine War — Richard Quine • 1972 — Joe Kidd — John Sturges • 1974 — Mr. Majestyk — Richard Fleischer • 1980 — High Noon, Part II (TV) — Jerry Jameson • 1985 — Stick — Burt Reynolds — Joseph Stinson • 1986 — 52 Pick-Up — John Frankenheimer — John Steppling • 1987 — The Rosary Murders — Fred Walton — William X. Kienzle & Fred Walton • Desperado (TV Movie) — Virgil W. Vogel • 1989 — Cat Chaser — Abel Ferrara — James Borelli

Nearly all of Leonard's novels have been performed as audiobooks. A number of them (including The Big Bounce, Be Cool and The Tonto Woman) have been recorded more than once resulting in over 60 English-language audiobook versions of his novels. Many of the earlier recordings were abridgements, the last of which was Pagan Babies (2000) read by Steve Buscemi. Certain narrators have dominated the Elmore Leonard oeuvre, notably Frank Muller (11 audiobooks), Grover Gardner aka Alexander Adams (7), George Guidall (5), Mark Hammer (5), and Joe Mantegna (5). Other notable Leonard narrators include Liev Schreiber, Neil Patrick Harris, Tom Wopat, Arliss Howard, Joe Morton, Taye Diggs, Brian Dennehy, Bruce Boxleitner, Tom Skerritt, Robert Forster, Dylan Baker, Paul Rudd, Keith Carradine, Ed Asner, and Henry Rollins.

• 10 Rules of Writing (2007) • Foreword to Walter Mirisch's book I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History

Twenty-six of Leonard's novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen (19 as motion pictures and another seven as television programs).

• In 1992, Leonard played himself in a script he wrote and, with actor Paul Lazar dramatizing a scene from the novel Swag, appeared in a humorous television short about his writing process which aired on the Byline Showtime series on Showtime Networks. • The 2010–15 FX series Justified was based around the popular Leonard character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens from the novels Pronto, Riding the Rap, the eponymous Raylan, and the short story "Fire in the Hole". • The short-lived 1998 TV series Maximum Bob was based on Leonard's 1991 novel of the same name. It aired on ABC for seven episodes and starred Beau Bridges. • The TV series Karen Sisco (2003–04) starring Carla Gugino was based on the U.S. Marshall character from the film Out of Sight (1998) played by Jennifer Lopez. • The 2017 Epix series Get Shorty is based on the novel of the same.

Elmore Leonard was recorded at birth as Elmore John Leonard Jr. He also worked under the name «Голландец». The authorities additionally record the heading Dutch Leonard. His recorded language was English. His recorded confession was Catholicism.

Works recorded as notable number 8: Raylan Givens, The Bounty Hunters, Law at Randado, Escape from Five Shadows, Last Stand at Saber River, Hombre, The Big Bounce and The Moonshine War. His recorded genres are detective fiction and Western.

Elmore Leonard is recorded with the occupation film producer. Recorded with the occupation prose writer. Classed in the genre detective fiction. Classed in the genre Western. Recorded as screenwriter, writer, novelist and film producer.

• Year — Collection — ISBN • 1998 — The Tonto Woman and Other Western Stories • 2002 — When the Women Come Out to Dance Later reprint retitled Fire in the Hole • 2004 — The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard • 2006 — Moment of Vengeance and Other Stories • 2006 — Blood Money and Other Stories • 2006 — Three-Ten To Yuma and Other Stories • 2007 — Trail of the Apache and Other Stories • 2009 — Comfort to the Enemy and Other Carl Webster Stories • 2014 — Charlie Martz and Other Stories: The Unpublished Stories of Elmore Leonard