Craig Rice

Background

Craig Rice was born on June 5, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Harry Moschiem, itinerant artist, and Mary Craig. Craig Rice's birth name was Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig.

Career

Craig Rice was a writer. In addition to writing books, she was the author of several short stories, many of which appeared in the Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Milwaukee Journal, and The Chicago American. In the 1930s, Rice worked for radio stations, including WCLO and the Beacon Syndicate in 1931, and wrote radio and television scripts, such as The Amazing Mr. Malone.

Rice turned mystery writing somewhat on its head when she created protagonists who solved crimes by finding courage in a bottle of alcohol. Drinking played a significant part in Rice's own life and, indeed, contributed to her death, which was caused by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. Yet her fiction is noted for what biographer Jeffrey A. Marks described as "screwball" humor rather than the hard-bitten realism so prevalent in the mystery genre of that era. Almost everything that happens in one of her witty, whacky novels is totally off the wall. To Rice, the reality was really just a concept, a weird and wonderful playground where her imagination could romp around unfettered.

Craig Rice grew up in Chicago and was a crime reporter, a job that acquainted her with the subject of murder. Her first detective novel, Eight Faces at Three, took her almost two years to write, but when it was published, it was such a crowd-pleaser that she used the same protagonist, John J. Malone, in several succeeding books. Malone turned out to be one of her most memorable characters. An attorney-turned-sleuth, he was more often found at his favorite haunt, Joe the Angel's City Hall Bar, than in the courtroom. Malone made his debut in Rice's novels, but he also was in some of her short stories, and finally, he became a movie star in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone. Mrs. O'Malley was based on a character created by fellow mystery writer Stuart Palmer, who often collaborated with Randolph. Malone also made appearances on radio and television.

Rice once claimed that she never knew where her stories came from, insinuating that she sat down at the typewriter with a blank sheet of paper, having no clue as to what would develop next. She wrote from her intuition rather than from notes and outlines. Whatever method she used, she was one of the most popular authors of mystery novels of her time. Rice wrote novels, short stories, and radio and television scripts, as well as screenplays. She also wrote three books as a ghostwriter: two for the showgirl Gypsy Rose Lee and one for actor George Saunders. Some critics have suggested that Rice employed ghostwriters to complete her own works, especially later in her career.

After Rice's untimely death, several writers attempted to honor her legacy. In 1960 Laurence Mark Janifer wrote a story incorporating some of her main characters in The Pickled Poodles: A Novel Based on the Characters Created by Craig Rice. Stuart Palmer, who reportedly collaborated with Randolph on stories or used her ideas in his own works, put together a posthumous collection of her short stories, People vs. Withers and Malone. A novel Randolph left partially completed, The April Robin Murders, was finished by author Ed McBain and published in 1958.

In more recent years, Craig Rice's writing has enjoying renewed attention. Her fans often compare her to Ellery Queen to Jonathan Latimer. Though they admit that she was no literary heavy-weight, they note that Rice knew how to make readers laugh.

Achievements

• Craig Rice was best known as a writer. She was the author of more than two dozen writings, including her notable stories about John J. Malone.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Thursday Turkey Murders

    (Former con-artist photographers Bingo Riggs and Handsome ...)

    1943
  • Home Sweet Homicide

    (The children of a mystery writer play amateur sleuths and...)

    1944
  • Crime on My Hands

    (The snarky and debonair actor George Sanders (who would g...)

    1944
  • The Lucky Stiff

    (Anne Marie, imprisoned for a murder she did not commit, p...)

    1945
  • The Wrong Murder

    (A cynical Chicago attorney butts heads with a beautiful k...)

    1940
  • The Big Midget Murders

    (Why were eleven unmatched silk stockings used as a noose?...)

    1942
  • To Catch a Thief

    (A mysterious Robin Hood targets Wall Street titans in thi...)

    1943
  • The Name is Malone

    (The book was published after Craig Rice's death in 1957.)

    1958
  • People Vs. Withers & Malone

    (The book was published after Craig Rice's death in 1957.)

    1963
  • But The Doctor Died

    (The book was published after Craig Rice's death in 1957.)

    1967
  • Murder, Mystery and Malone

    (The book was published after Craig Rice's death in 1957.)

    2002
  • The April Robin Murders

    (The book was published after Craig Rice's death in 1957.)

    1958
  • The Corpse Steps Out

    (Lawyer John J. Malone and pals Jake and Helene chase a co...)

    1940
  • Eight Faces at Three

    (John J. Malone, the defender of the guilty, is notorious ...)

    1939
  • The Fourth Postman

    (John J. Malone sticks his nose into the case of the dead ...)

    1948
  • Murder Through the Looking Glass 1943
  • Jethro Hammer 1944
  • The Right Murder 1941
  • Trial by Fury 1941
  • Having Wonderful Crime 1943
  • Knocked For A Loop 1957
  • My Kingdom for a Hearse 1957
  • The Sunday Pigeon Murders 1942
  • Telefair 1942
  • Innocent Bystander 1949
  • 45 Murderers 1952
  • The G-String Murders 1941
  • Mother Finds a Body 1942

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Craig Rice suffered from deafness in one ear and blindness in one eye with incipient glaucoma in the other.

Interests

• Marksmanship, cooking, gardening

Connections

Craig Rice was married four times. Her husbands were Arthur John Follows, Arthur Ferguson, H. W. DeMott Jr., and Lawrence Lipton. Rice also had three children from her fourth marriage, two daughters and a son, Nancy, Iris, and David Lipton.

Father:

Harry Moschiem Craig

Mother:

Mary Randolph Craig

Friend:

George Henry Sanders

George Sanders was a British actor who specialized in elegant yet dissolute characters and was most noted for his roles as villains.

colleague:

Ed McBain

Ed McBain was known as Evan Hunter. He was one of the successful and prolific crime fiction authors.

Ex-husband:

Arthur John Follows

Arthur John Follows was Craig Rice's first husband.

Ex-husband:

Arthur Ferguson

Arthur Ferguson was Craig Rice's second husband.

Ex-husband:

H. W. DeMott Jr.

H. W. DeMott Jr. was Craig Rice's third husband.

husband:

Lawrence Lipton

Lawrence Lipton was a writer, American journalist, and a beat poet.

Daughter:

Nancy Lipton

Daughter:

Iris Lipton

Son:

David Lipton

colleague:

Stuart Palmer

Stuart Palmer was an American famous mystery novel author and screenwriter best known for his character Hildegarde Withers.

References

• Who Was That Lady?
  2001