Gaston Leroux

Gaston Leroux (1868-1927), French mystery novelist, playwright and journalist best known for his Le Fantôme de l'opéra (1910, The Phantom of the Opera), in which a criminally insane recluse haunts a Paris opera house, and abducts a young and beautiful singer to his cellar retreat. The novel has been a source for several films and stage adaptations, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version, first produced in 1987.

Gaston Leroux was born on May 6, 1868 in Paris as the son of a wealthy storeowner. He attended school in Normandy and studied law in Paris, receiving his degree in 1889. After inheriting nearly a million francs he spent most of his time drinking and gambling. Finding his money gone, Leroux started to work as a theater critic and reporter for L'Écho de Paris. By 1890 Leroux had become a full-time journalist. From 1909 Leroux devoted himself entirely to writing, focusing on plays and popular novels of mystery and detection.

Leroux started to write novels in the early 1900s. Between the years 1903 and 1927 Leroux produced two dozen newspaper serials, many shorter works and seven plays. His breakthrough work was Le Mystère de la chambre jaune (1907, The Mystery of the Yellow Room). which introduced the teenager crime reporter Joseph Rouletabille. Leroux's other series character was Cheri-Bibi, who appeared in several detective novels.

In 1919 Leroux established his own film company called Cinéromans. Leroux died in Nice on April 15/16, 1927, as a result of an acute urinary infection.

The above biography is copyrighted. Do not republish it without permission.