Gaston Leroux

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Lore & Background

Leroux was born in Paris in 1868, the illegitimate child of Marie Bidaut and Dominique Leroux, who married a month after his birth. He claimed an illustrious pedigree, including descent from William II of England, and social connections such as having been the official playmate of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris at the college d'Eu in Normandy. After schooling in Normandy and studying as a lawyer in Caen (graduating in 1889), he inherited millions of francs and lived wildly until he nearly reached bankruptcy. In 1890, he began working as a court reporter and theater critic for L'Écho de Paris. His most important journalism came when he began working as an international correspondent for the Paris newspaper Le Matin in 1893. He was present at, and covered, the 1905 Russian Revolution. He left journalism in 1907, after returning from covering a volcanic eruption and being immediately sent on another assignment without vacation time, and began writing fiction. He first wrote a mystery novel titled Le mystère de la chambre jaune (1908; English title: The Mystery of the Yellow Room), starring the amateur detective Joseph Rouletabille. Leroux published his most famous work, The Phantom of the Opera, as a serial in 1909 and 1910, and as a book in 1910 (with an English translation appearing in 1911). In 1919, he and Arthur Bernède formed their own film company, Société des Cinéromans, publishing novels and turning them into films. Leroux was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1909. He died at age 58 in Nice, France, in 1927.

Reader's Guide

Gaston Leroux's contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the United Kingdom and Edgar Allan Poe in the United States. His novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room remains one of the most celebrated locked room mysteries. However, his most enduring legacy is The Phantom of the Opera, which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical. Leroux also founded a film production company, Société des Cinéromans, with Arthur Bernède in 1919, adapting his own novels into films. His personal life included two marriages: first to Marie Lefranc from whom he separated in 1902, then living with Jeanne Cayatte with whom he had a son, Gaston (nicknamed Milinkij), and a daughter named Madeleine; they married in 1917 after Lefranc's death. In 1918, he founded another film production company, Société des Cinéromans, with René Navarre, debuting two films in which his daughter played the lead role.

Did You Know?

• Leroux was the illegitimate child of Marie Bidaut and Dominique Leroux, who married a month after his birth.
• He claimed descent from William II of England (Guillaume le Roux), son of William the Conqueror.
• He was present at and covered the 1905 Russian Revolution as an international correspondent for Le Matin.
• Leroux was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1909.
• He founded a film production company, Société des Cinéromans, with René Navarre in 1918, and his daughter played the lead role in their debut films.