Sax Rohmer's Biography

Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (February 15, 1883 - June 1, 1959), was an English novelist famous for creating the character Dr. Fu Manchu. Ward adopted the pseudonym Sax Rohmer for his writing career. A "sax-roamer" is a wandering blade, a free-lance. He changed his middle name to Sarsfield in 1901, after his mother's death, as she believed herself to be descended from the Irish Jacobite hero Patrick Sarsfield.

Life and Work
Born in Ladywood, Birmingham, to working-class Irish parents William Ward (circa 1850-1932), a clerk, and Margaret Mary Furey (circa 1850-1901), Ward grew up in London, where his parents moved in 1886. Ward initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time. He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer for music hall performers before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing fiction.

Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His doctor and family friend Dr. Richard Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations.

His first published work was issued in 1903 when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. Rohmer's main literary influences seem to have been Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and M.P. Shiel. He gradually transitioned from writing for music hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. 

He first used the pseudonym of Sax Rohmer with the publication of a song, Bang went the Chance of a Lifetime, in 1908. In 1909, he married Rose Elizabeth Knox, a juggler, and sister of Teddy Knox, from the Crazy Gang. He published his first book Pause! anonymously in 1910. Ward published a collection of stories in collaboration with George Robey and authored an "autobiography" of the popular comedian Little Tich by 1911.

Ward's first fiction, under the pseudonym of Sax Rohmer, was a serial that appeared in Cassell's Magazine in 1912, The Sins of Severac Bablon. That same year, the first Fu Manchu serialization was published. It was subsequently published in book form in 1913 by Methuen. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu. E.V. Lucas, a reader of Methuen, made a serious attempt at persuading them not to publish the book. Something Rohmer would frequently mention to Lucas when they later became friends.

In November 1914, Sax Rohmer published a story, The Crouching Man, in The Story-Teller. It noted that "All fees accruing to the author will be devoted to the funds established for the assistance of those who must suffer from the Great War". (Van Ash, 101). However, it was not until 1915 (late in 1915?) that he took direct action in the war effort. He applied for a commission, joined the Artists' Rifles, and trained at Gidea Park in Essex. 

Like the other members of the Artists' Rifles, he received extended weekends at home every other week. In alternate weeks, wives and girlfriends were allowed to meet up near the camp. It was on one of those weekends that both Sax and his wife Elizabeth witnessed the downing of a Zeppelin on September 2, 1916. Reportedly, Rohmer was sickened by the way other witnesses cheered. All he could think of was that German airmen were being roasted alive.

At this point, Rohmer was said to have considered what the great intellect of Dr. Fu Manchu might do to end the war. Rohmer produced fourteen separate plans, which included details of how to assassinate Ludendorf and Hindenburg. Rohmer persuaded his friend T.P. O'Connor, an Irish MP and editor of the Journal of the Great War to introduce him to someone important in the War Office so he could present these plans. O'Connor failed him. However, Rohmer did manage on his own initiative to wangle a meeting with Ian Macpherson, who was the Under-Secretary of State for War, and Rohmer delivered his "Fourteen Point Plan of Intensive Warfare".

Neither Ludendorf nor Hindenburg was assassinated. Although, Rohmer was subsequently invited to work in the department known as M.I. 7b, which was involved with propaganda. Rohmer worked here both before and after being discharged from the army for health reasons. Rohmer experienced a recurrence of " a lung weakness which had nearly killed him in infancy". (Van Ash, 110).

In 1934, Sax Rohmer moved into a newly refurbished house on Gatton Road, Reigate, Surrey, England, where he lived until 1946. Sax and Elizabeth moved to America for a few years in 1947. However, Rohmer returned to London shortly before his death.

Sax%20Rohmer%201957%20This%20Week
Rohmer died at University College London Hospital, after succumbing to Asian flu, on June 1, 1959, at the age of 76, and was buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green, London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England.

His wife, Rose Elizabeth Knox Ward (1886-1979), published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black, in 1958 under the pen name Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. She and Cay Van Ash (1918-1994), her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy: A Biography of Sax Rohmer, published in 1972.

The Fu Manchu Series
After penning Little Tich in 1911, as a ghostwriter for the music hall entertainer of the same name, he wrote the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, originally published as a serialization from February 1913 to June 1913. The first Fu Manchu story, The Zayat Kiss, was originally published in Collier's Magazine, February 15, 1913.

It was an immediate success, with its story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the supposed worldwide conspiracy of the " Yellow Peril". The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters, Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw (an occult detective), and the Crime Magnet, made Rohmer one of the most successful and financially successful authors of the 1920s and 1930s.

The first three Fu Manchu books were published between 1913 and 1917. It was not until 1931, some fourteen years after the third book in the series, that Rohmer returned to the series with Daughter of Fu Manchu. The reason for the long interval was that Rohmer wanted to be rid of the series after The Si-Fan Mysteries. The first three books had been successfully filmed by Stoll in the twenties as a pair of serials.

Rohmer's first effort at reviving the Fu Manchu property was ultimately reworked as The Emperor of America. The original intent had been for the head of the organization to be Fu Manchu's daughter. He kept Head Centre as a female criminal mastermind to combat Drake Roscoe but was very unhappy with the book both as it started and in its finished form. He would later return to Drake Roscoe and his female supervillain for the Sumuru series. In the meantime, he tried again to focus his energies on what was first titled Fu Manchu's Daughter for Collier's in 1930, but with an older, now knighted, Denis Nayland Smith as the protagonist once more. The results were infinitely better and jump-started the series in the process.

In the 28 years from 1931 to 1959, Rohmer added a further 10 books to the Fu Manchu series, meaning the series totals 13 books in all, not counting the posthumous short story collection The Wrath of Fu Manchu and Other Stories. The Fu Manchu series was criticized by the Chinese government and Chinese communities in the U.S. for what was perceived as negative ethnic stereotyping. Sociologist Virginia Berridge has stated that Rohmer created a false image of London's Chinese community as crime-ridden, further claiming that the Limehouse Chinese were one of the most law-abiding of London's ethnic minorities. Critic Jack Adrian has written: "Rohmer's own racism was careless and casual, a mere symptom of his times". Colin Watson commented: "So vehement and repetitive were Sax Rohmer's references to Asiatic plotting against 'white' civilization that they cannot be explained simply as the frills of melodramatic narration."

Other Work
Rohmer became a friend of escapologist Harry Houdini, who wrote to him in praise of Rohmer's The Romance of Sorcery. Rohmer based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on Houdini.

The Orchard of Tears is an odd book in the context of Sax Rohmer's other work. There are no Oriental villains or exotic locations. Rather, there are gentle rabbits and lambs in pastoral settings and a great deal of philosophical musing. As much as he enjoyed Fu Manchu and the notoriety and income the character provided, Rohmer had other interests and a markedly serious side. The departure from his expected subject matter is plainly signaled by the book's dedication: "To the slaves of the pomegranate, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, who drink at the fountain of life, this chalice is offered as a loving-cup".

In The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919) terror comes to Britain when a self-centered archaeologist unearths one of Islam's holiest relics, the sacred slipper of the prophet Mohammed. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the implacable Hassan of Aleppo vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages is a secret group of fanatics. Not even the best men of Scotland Yard seem able to apprehend them.

Tales of Chinatown is a collection of 10 short stories published in 1922. All of the stories first appeared in magazine format. This collection includes a story that is considered to be one of his best and also has been anthologized many times, Tcheriapin. The story The Hand of the Mandarin Quong was rewritten for this book. First published as Hand of the White Sheikh, Rohmer changed the setting to a Chinatown background and published it as The Mystery of the Shriveled Hand. The title was then changed again for this collection.

Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen, often described as "Rohmer's masterpiece". Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career.

His final success came with a 1946-1949 BBC Light Programme radio series that led to a series of 1950s novels featuring a female variation of Fu Manchu, Sumuru. The Sumuru series consists of five books. Two films featuring the character played by Shirley Eaton were also produced by Harry Alan Towers as was a 2003 German film Sumuru.

Rohmer also wrote numerous short stories, including The Master of Hollow Grange (1920), which is an homage to M.R. James' story Lost Heart, featuring a mad scientist who preys on children.

Rohmer's work was banned in Nazi Germany, causing Rohmer to complain that he could not understand such censorship, stating "my stories are not inimical to Nazi ideals".

Bibliography
Click this link to view or download this Spreadsheet.
Left-click on this embedded spreadsheet to scroll right and view additional information.
Note: This is a work in progress. I'm currently organizing more detailed info and adding clickable links.

This bibliography was compiled by William Patrick Maynard, Carl Thiel, and Dixon Kinqade.


Fiction SeriesNovelsCollectionsOmnibusChapbooksNonfictionShort Fiction SeriesShort FictionEssays






Sources:
http://fantastic-writers-and-the-great-war.com/the-writers/sax-rohmer/


No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)