Sax Rohmer

Born Arthur Henry Ward in Birmingham, England, on February 15, 1883, he wrote under the pen name Sax Rohmer. Before becoming famous as a novelist, he worked in a range of jobs and wrote material including songs, sketches, and short fiction.

He is most closely associated with Fu Manchu, the master criminal who first appeared in the early 1910s and became an international sensation. Although that character defined much of his reputation, Rohmer also wrote many other novels and stories, including supernatural mysteries and adventure fiction.

Rohmer died in London on June 1, 1959. Today he is remembered as a major figure in popular fiction whose fast-moving, atmospheric stories left a strong mark on twentieth-century pulp, crime, and thriller writing.