Louis Joseph Vance


Louis Joseph Vance was an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer. He created the popular character Michael Lanyard, a criminal-turned-detective known as the Lone Wolf.

Early life

Louis Joseph Vance was born September 19, 1879, in Washington, D. C., the only child of Wilson J. Vance, a Medal of Honor recipient, and Lillian Beall. He was educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. Vance was married to Anne Elizabeth Hodges on February 19, 1898. Their son, Wilson Beall Vance, was born in 1900.

Career

He wrote short stories and verse after 1901, then composed many popular novels. His character Michael Lanyard, known as The Lone Wolf, was featured in eight books and 24 films between 1914 and 1949 and also appeared in radio and television series.
Vance moved to Los Angeles to work with Universal Pictures on films based on his work, including The Trey o' Hearts and a serial and film series based on his Terence O'Rourke stories. In 1915, he founded Fiction Pictures, Inc., a motion picture production company whose films were distributed by Paramount Pictures. Its first release was The Spanish Jade, with a screenplay by Vance based on his stage adaptation of a novel by Maurice Hewlett. Vance was president and general manager of the company; other principals were Wilfred Lucas, Gilbert Warrenton and Bess Meredyth. Fiction Pictures operated in Glendale until a new studio in Hollywood was completed in April 1915. The studio was sold to Famous Players in June, when Fiction Pictures went out of business.
His book Cynthia of the Minute was adapted into a film with Leah Baird in it.

Death and burial

Vance died alone in his New York City apartment on December 16, 1933, in a fire that resulted from his falling asleep with a lighted cigarette. His death was ruled accidental. A simple funeral took place December 20, 1933, at St. George's [Protestant Episcopal Church (Brooklyn)|St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church] in Brooklyn, with honorary pallbearers including Marc Connelly, Will Irwin and Samuel Merwin. Vance's widow received an estate of less than $10,000.

Books

  • Terence O'Rourke, Gentleman Adventurer
  • The Private War
  • The Brass Bowl
at Wikisource
at Wikisource
  • Nobody
  • Sheep's Clothing
  • The Last of The Fighting Channings
  • The False Faces
at Wikisource

Film adaptations

In addition to adaptations of his novels, the following films, while not straight adaptations, were based on the characters from Vance's Lone Wolf series: