Richard Edward Connell Jr. (October 17, 1893 – November 22, 1949) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. One of the most popular short story writers of his time, he is best known for his 1924 story "The Most Dangerous Game". His stories were published in The Saturday Evening Post, The Century Magazine, and Collier's. He had equal success as a journalist and screenwriter and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1942 for Best Story for the 1941 film Meet John Doe, directed by Frank Capra and based on his 1922 short story "A Reputation".
Life and career Richard Edward Connell Jr. was born on October 17, 1893, in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Richard E. and Mary Miller Connell. He began his writing career for The Poughkeepsie Journal and attended Georgetown College for a year before going to Harvard University, where he edited The Lampoon and The Crimson. He received an AB from the university in 1915.
Connell subsequently worked on the city staff of The New York American and as a copy writer for J. Walter Thompson. He served in France with the United States Army during World War I. While in the army, he was the editor of his camp's newspaper. After the war, he turned to writing short stories, and eventually wrote over 300.
Connell married Louise Herrick Fox in 1919. He died on November 22, 1949, in Beverly Hills, California.
Awards In 1923, Connell won Second Prize of that year's O. Henry Award for his story "A Friend of Napoleon," published in the June 30, 1923 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.Past winners (by date, 1919–1999) from Random House
Two of his later stories were finalists for the O. Henry Award, but did not win any of the three prizes:
1924 – "The Most Dangerous Game", Collier's (January 19, 1924 issue) 1928 – "The Law Beaters", Collier's (June 23, 1928 issue) All three of these stories were included in the respective annual O. Henry Award anthologies, which included both prize winners and (non-winning) finalists. This has evidently led to confusion resulting in the latter two stories occasionally being incorrectly thought of as winners of the award.
Works Screenplays The Most Dangerous Game (1932) (based on his short story) The Milky Way (1936) (screenplay co-author) F-Man (1936) (story) Our Relations (1936) (screen story co-author) Love on Toast (1937) (co-author of both story and screenplay) The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) (contributing writer) (uncredited) Doctor Rhythm (1938) (screenplay co-author) Brother Orchid (1940) (based on his short story) Hired Wife (1940) (screenplay co-author) Meet John Doe (1941) (based on his short story, co-author of the treatment) ― co-nominated for Academy Award, Best Writing (Original Story) Nice Girl? (1941) (screenplay co-author †) Rio Rita (1942) (screenplay co-author †) Presenting Lily Mars (1943) (screenplay co-author †) Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) (screenplay co-author †) ― co-nominated for Academy Award, Best Writing (Original Screenplay) Thrill of a Romance (1945) (screenplay co-author †) Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) (screenplay co-author †) Luxury Liner (1948) (screenplay co-author †) † With Gladys Lehman
Novels The Mad Lover (1927) Murder at Sea (1929) Playboy (1936) What Ho! (1937)
Short story collections The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon and Other Humorous Tales (George H. Doran Co.,1922) – also published in London as Mister Braddy's Bottle and Other Humorous Tales (Chapman & Dodd, 1922) Apes and Angels (Minton, Balch & Co.,1924) – includes "The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee".Apes and angels at WorldCat Variety (Leonard Parsons [London], 1925; Minton, Balch & Co. [NY], 1939) – includes "The Most Dangerous Game".Variety at WorldCat Ironies (Minton, Balch & Co., 1930) – includes "The Law Beaters".Ironies at WorldCat
References
External links
Works by Richard Connell at Library of Short Stories
Richard Connell at The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Additional biography and text of The Most Dangerous Game Works by Richard Connell (public domain in Canada) Louise Fox Connell Papers, 1904–1986 at Harvard University Library