James Ellroy
Bio
James Ellroy (nee Lee Earle Ellroy) was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His mother was a nurse and his father was an accountant among other things. When his parents divorced in 1954, his mother got custody and moved to El Monte (a low income area in L.A). His mother was murdered there in 1958. James' attempt to solve this still unsolved murder was the subject of his 1996 nonfiction work My Dark Places. After his mother's death, he moved in with his father. Soon after, his father had a stroke and James had to step into the caregiver role.
James was eventually expelled from Fairfax high school for ranting about Nazism in his English class. He joined the army, but didn't stay long. He soon realised that he didn't belong in the army, and was worried about his father. To get out of the army, he faked a stutter and convinced the army psychiatrist that he was not mentally fit for combat. After three months, he received a dishonorable discharge. He returned to Los Angeles, and sadly his father died shortly after.
James moved into his own apartment, but got sent to juvenile hall after being caught trying to steal a steak. Once released, he continued to live a rough life. Drug and alcohol abuse was slowly destroying his health. He finally got clean and got a job as a golf caddy.
At the age of thirty, he wrote and sold his first novel. He never stopped writing, and continues to publish novels. He is also a writer for GQ magazine.
Currently, James lives with his wife (writer and critic Helen Knode) in Kansas.
Bibliography
Underworld U.S.A. Series:
Police Gazette (2005)
The Cold Six Thousand (2001)
American Tabloid (1995)
L.A. Quartet Series:
The Dudley Smith Trio (omnibus) (1999)
White Jazz (1992)
L.A. Confidential (1990)
The Big Nowhere (1988)
The Black Dahlia (1987)
Lloyd Hopkins Series:
L.A. Noir: The Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy (omnibus) (1997)
Suicide Hill (1986)
Because the Night (1984)
Blood On the Moon (1984)
Collections:
Destination: Morgue (2003)
Crime Wave (1999)
Hollywood Nocturnes (1994)
Murder and Mayhem (1992)
Dick Contino's Blues (1982)
Other Books:
My Dark Places (1996; non-fiction)
Killer On the Road/Silent Terror (1985)
Clandestine (1982)
Brown's Requiem (1981)
Three films have been made based on Ellroy's books: Cop (1987; based on Blood on the Moon), L.A. Confidential (1987), and Brown's Requiem (1998).
Links
General James Ellroy Site
Crime Magazine: Article
Crime Time: Call Me Dog (Interview)