Clayton Rawson (August 15, 1906 – March 1, 1971) was an American mystery writer,[1] editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detectiveThe Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies. He also wrote four short stories in 1940 about a stage magician named Don Diavolo, who appears as a minor character in one of the novels featuring The Great Merlini. "Don Diavolo is a magician who perfects his tricks in a Greenwich Village basement where he is frequently visited by the harried Inspector Church of Homicide, either to arrest the Don for an impossible crime or to ask him to solve it."[2]
Rawson was born in Elyria, Ohio, the son of Clarence D. and Clara (Smith) Rawson. He became a magician when he was 8 years old. He married Catherine Stone in 1929, the same year he graduated from Ohio State University, and they had four children. He moved to Chicago and worked there as an illustrator.
He was one of the four founding members of the Mystery Writers of America, which presents the annual Edgar Awards in various categories of mystery writing. All of his novels were written before the founding of this group, but in 1949 and 1967 Rawson received Special Edgar Awards for his various contributions to mystery writing and the MWA, including the founding of the organization's first newsletter, "The Third Degree". Rawson is also credited with writing the organization's first slogan: "Crime Does Not Pay—Enough".[4]
Rawson was widely admired by his mystery-writing colleagues, and John Dickson Carr, master of "impossible crime" stories, dedicated the 1965 novel "The House at Satan's Elbow" to him. Rawson was managing editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine between 1963 and his death in the United Hospital, Port Chester, N.Y., in 1971.[5]
Rawson's burial was apparently in New York. Sometime between 2006 and 2011, his name was inscribed on his parents' double gravestone at a cemetery in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, noting the family connection and honoring a hometown boy who achieved fame. However, he is not buried there. The date of his death in this added inscription is incorrectly listed as 1970.[6][7]
Works on the screenedit
At least two movies were made based on the Merlini books. One of them, Miracles for Sale (1939), was based on Death from a Top Hat but had no character named Merlini. Instead, Robert Young played the character as "The Great Morgan". The movie The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942), starring Lloyd Nolan, was based on No Coffin for the Corpse, but the Merlini character was replaced by Michael Shayne, a popular fictional private eye at the time, created by the writer Brett Halliday.
A 30-minute pilot for a television series was created in 1951, but no further episodes were made. The Transparent Man, written by Rawson, starred Jerome Thor as The Great Merlini — who in this incarnation was a stage magician — with Barbara Cook as his assistant Julie, and featuring E. G. Marshall as a criminal.
Nothing Is Impossible. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1958. Collected in The Great Merlini. Reprinted in The Locked Room Reader: Stories of Impossible Crimes and Escapes, edited by Hans S Santesson
The 90 Per Cent Perfect Change. Professional Card Magic (1961) (with Cliff Green)
Etcetera. The Pallbearers Review Vol. 2, No. 10 (1967) (with Fred G Taylor and Jack Avis)
Thumb Count Double Lift. The Pallbearers Review Vol. 3, No. 11 (1968)
Magic Shuffle Variation. The Living End (1972)
Name Your Poison. The Living End (1972)
Further Ideas. The Pallbearers Review Vol. 9, No. 6 (1974) (with Martin Gardner)
Date Sense. The Compleat Magick Vol. II, Issue 161 (with Walter B Gibson and Jerry Ross) (1976)
Rawson Transit. The Fred Braue Notebooks, Issue 4 (1985)
Simon Says. Self-Working Close-up Card Magic (with Karl Fulves)
Little Wonder Thought Projector. The Fred Braue Notebooks, Issue 8 (1997)
Clayton Rawson. Magic Page by Page (2011) (with Patrick Page)
As The Great Merliniedit
Name Your Poison. The Jinx No. 132, 1941
Works featuring Clayton Rawson as a characteredit
Short storiesedit
The 51st Sealed Room by Robert Arthur. Collected in Tantalising Locked Room Mysteries (1982), edited Isaac Asimov, Charles Harry Waugh and Martin Harry Greenberg
Referencesedit
^Nugent, Frank S. (August 10, 1939). "Miracles for Sale (1939) THE SCREEN; Murder in Magicians' Row Is the Theme of 'Miracles for Sale,' the New Mystery at the Criterion". The New York Times.
^Penzler, Otto, et al.Detectionary. Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1977. ISBN0-87951-041-2
^Lake, Talbot (August 12, 1938). "Amateur Magician Mystifies His Readers". Altoona Tribune. Altoona, Pennsylvania. p. 8 – via newspapers.com.
^Mystery Writers of America – A Historical Survey 2007-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
^"Whodunit?: a serial of aliasses – page 7 – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine". spaceports.com. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
clayton, rawson, august, 1906, march, 1971, american, mystery, writer, editor, amateur, magician, four, novels, frequently, invoke, great, knowledge, stage, magic, feature, their, fictional, detective, great, merlini, professional, magician, runs, shop, sellin. Clayton Rawson August 15 1906 March 1 1971 was an American mystery writer 1 editor and amateur magician His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies He also wrote four short stories in 1940 about a stage magician named Don Diavolo who appears as a minor character in one of the novels featuring The Great Merlini Don Diavolo is a magician who perfects his tricks in a Greenwich Village basement where he is frequently visited by the harried Inspector Church of Homicide either to arrest the Don for an impossible crime or to ask him to solve it 2 Clayton RawsonBornClayton Ashley Rawson 1906 08 15 August 15 1906Elyria OhioDiedMarch 1 1971 1971 03 01 aged 64 Mamaroneck New YorkOccupationAuthorAlma materOhio State UniversityGenreMysterySpouseCatherine Stone m 1929 wbr ChildrenHugh Rawson 1936 2013 3 others Contents 1 Life and career 2 Works on the screen 3 Bibliography 3 1 As Clayton Rawson 3 1 1 Mystery novels 3 1 2 Short story collections 3 1 3 Other books 3 1 4 Short stories 3 1 5 Uncollected short stories 3 2 As The Great Merlini 3 2 1 Non fiction 3 3 As Stuart Towne 3 3 1 Short story collections 3 3 2 Short stories 3 3 3 Uncollected short stories 4 Tricks 4 1 As Clayton Rawson 4 2 As The Great Merlini 5 Works featuring Clayton Rawson as a character 5 1 Short stories 6 References 7 External linksLife and career editRawson was born in Elyria Ohio the son of Clarence D and Clara Smith Rawson He became a magician when he was 8 years old He married Catherine Stone in 1929 the same year he graduated from Ohio State University and they had four children He moved to Chicago and worked there as an illustrator His first novel Death from a Top Hat appeared in 1938 3 He was one of the four founding members of the Mystery Writers of America which presents the annual Edgar Awards in various categories of mystery writing All of his novels were written before the founding of this group but in 1949 and 1967 Rawson received Special Edgar Awards for his various contributions to mystery writing and the MWA including the founding of the organization s first newsletter The Third Degree Rawson is also credited with writing the organization s first slogan Crime Does Not Pay Enough 4 Rawson was widely admired by his mystery writing colleagues and John Dickson Carr master of impossible crime stories dedicated the 1965 novel The House at Satan s Elbow to him Rawson was managing editor of Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine between 1963 and his death in the United Hospital Port Chester N Y in 1971 5 Rawson s burial was apparently in New York Sometime between 2006 and 2011 his name was inscribed on his parents double gravestone at a cemetery in Elyria Lorain County Ohio noting the family connection and honoring a hometown boy who achieved fame However he is not buried there The date of his death in this added inscription is incorrectly listed as 1970 6 7 Works on the screen editAt least two movies were made based on the Merlini books One of them Miracles for Sale 1939 was based on Death from a Top Hat but had no character named Merlini Instead Robert Young played the character as The Great Morgan The movie The Man Who Wouldn t Die 1942 starring Lloyd Nolan was based on No Coffin for the Corpse but the Merlini character was replaced by Michael Shayne a popular fictional private eye at the time created by the writer Brett Halliday A 30 minute pilot for a television series was created in 1951 but no further episodes were made The Transparent Man written by Rawson starred Jerome Thor as The Great Merlini who in this incarnation was a stage magician with Barbara Cook as his assistant Julie and featuring E G Marshall as a criminal Bibliography editAs Clayton Rawson edit Mystery novels edit Death from a Top Hat 1938 The Footprints on the Ceiling 1939 The Headless Lady 1940 No Coffin for the Corpse 1942 Short story collections edit The Great Merlini 1979 The Clue of the Tattooed Man The Clue of the Broken Legs The Clue of the Missing Motive From Another World Off the Face of the Earth Merlini and the Lie Detector Merlini and the Vanished Diamonds Merlini and the Sound Effects Murder Nothing Is Impossible Miracles All in the Day s Work Merlini and the Photographic Clue The World s Smallest Locked Room Other books edit Scarne on Dice 1945 with John Scarne Al Baker s Pet Secrets 1951 with Albert Baker Short stories edit The Clue of the Tattooed Man Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine December 1946 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine March 1947 Collected in The Great Merlini The Clue of the Broken Legs Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine January 1947 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine April 1947 Collected in The Great Merlini The Clue of the Missing Motive Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine February 1947 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine May 1947 Collected in The Great Merlini The Case of the Stuttering Sextant Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine March 1947 with Baynard Kendrick From Another World Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine June 1948 Collected in The Great Merlini Pictures Don t Lie Leaflet published with a jigsaw puzzle 1949 Reprinted as Merlini and the Photographic Clue Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine August 1969 Collected in The Great Merlini Off the Face of the Earth Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine September 1949 Collected in The Great Merlini Merlini and the Lie Detector Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine July 1955 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine October 1955 Collected in The Great Merlini Merlini and the Vanished Diamonds Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine October 1955 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine December 1955 Collected in The Great Merlini Merlini and the Sound Effects Murder Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine December 1955 Story published without a solution as a competition for readers solution published Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine March 1956 Collected in The Great Merlini Nothing Is Impossible Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine July 1958 Collected in The Great Merlini Reprinted in The Locked Room Reader Stories of Impossible Crimes and Escapes edited by Hans S Santesson Miracles All in the Day s Work Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine October 1958 Collected in The Great Merlini The World s Smallest Locked Room Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine August 1971 Collected in The Great Merlini Uncollected short stories edit Dotty Joins a Lodge College Life April 1931 Dotty Has Heart Trouble College Life May 1931 Dotty Gets Her Man College Life Summer 1931 Dotty Hunts Pirate Gold College Life September 1931 Dotty Back to Bloop College Life October 1931 Dotty s Diary College Life October 1932 Dotty at a Night Club College Life December 1932 The Deadly Clown Detective Fiction Weekly 14 September 21 September 28 September 5 October 12 October and 19 October 1940 As The Great Merlini edit Non fiction edit How to Entertain Children with Magic You Can Do 1963 The Golden Book of Magic Amazing Tricks for Young Magicians 1964 As Stuart Towne edit Short story collections edit Death out of Thin Air 1941 Death from the Past Ghost of the Undead Death from the Unseen Death Out of Thin Air Death from Nowhere 1943 Act I The Claws of Satan Act II The Enchanted Dagger The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo 2005 Ghost of the Undead Death from Thin Air The Claws of Satan The Enchanted Dagger Stand In for a Kill Mr Mystery The Man with the Radio Mind Ace of Death The Man with X Ray Eyes Short stories edit Ghost of the Undead Red Star Mystery June 1940 Collected in Death out of Thin Air Stand in for a Kill Detective Fiction Weekly 8 June 1940 Collected in The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo Mr Mystery Detective Fiction Weekly 3 August 1940 Collected in The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo Death Out of Thin Air Red Star Mystery August 1940 Collected in Death out of Thin Air The Claws of Satan Red Star Mystery October 1940 Collected in Death from Nowhere Enchanted Dagger Red Star Mystery December 1940 Collected in Death from Nowhere The Man with the Radio Mind Detective Fiction Weekly 2 August 1941 Collected in The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo The Ace of Death Detective Fiction 24 January 1942 Collected in The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo The Man with X Ray Eyes New Detective Magazine March 1944 Collected in The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo Uncollected short stories edit The Murder from the Grave This story was announced for publication in Red Star Mystery February 1941 which was never publishedTricks editAs Clayton Rawson edit The Card from Hell The Jinx No 46 1938 The Camel and the Needle s Eye The Jinx No 46 1938 The Force That Couldn t Be Done The Jinx No 46 1938 Behind That Door The Jinx Summer Extra 1938 Puzzle From a Top Hat The Jinx Summer Extra 1938 Sixth Finger Card Rise The Jinx No 78 1940 Mass Production The Jinx No 110 1940 Ghost Writer The Jinx No 147 1941 Scrambled Thoughtwaves The Phoenix No 3 1942 Card Switch The Phoenix No 3 1942 Out of the Smoke The Phoenix No 11 1942 with Dave Spindell Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 No Corpse for the Coffin The Phoenix No 14 1942 Twist for Ring and String The Phoenix No 25 1942 The Cockeyed Cards Prepared Cards and Accessories Miracle Methods No 3 1942 Reprinted in The Living End 1972 The Force That Couldn t Be Done Full Deck of Impromptu Card Tricks 1943 Slate Sleights The Phoenix No 35 1943 The Backward Ghost The Phoenix No 37 1943 A Sucker Bet The Phoenix No 50 1943 Page Force The Phoenix No 81 1945 with Ronald B Edwards Detail Does It The Phoenix No 86 1945 with Kolmar The Mental Broadcast My Best 1945 The Force That Couldn t Be Card Control 1946 with Arthur H Buckley Double Lift Deceptions The Phoenix No 100 1946 Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 1 Right in front of Your Nose The Phoenix No 100 1946 Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 2 Magic Taught in One Easy Lesson The Phoenix No 100 1946 Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 3 Stream Lined Hypnotism The Phoenix No 100 1946 Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 4 The Absent Minded Spectator The Phoenix No 100 1946 Reprinted in The Best in Magic 1956 Strip Tease The Phoenix No 124 1947 Everyone Take a Card The Phoenix No 129 1947 The Force That Couldn t Be Done The Phoenix No 133 1947 Under the Table The Phoenix No 170 1949 In One Second Flat The Phoenix No 196 1950 Magic Scheme Scarne on Card Tricks 1950 The Impossible Force The Secret Ways of Al Baker 1951 Rawson Card Reading Tarbell Course in Magic Volume 6 1954 The 90 Per Cent Perfect Change Professional Card Magic 1961 with Cliff Green Etcetera The Pallbearers Review Vol 2 No 10 1967 with Fred G Taylor and Jack Avis Thumb Count Double Lift The Pallbearers Review Vol 3 No 11 1968 Magic Shuffle Variation The Living End 1972 Name Your Poison The Living End 1972 Further Ideas The Pallbearers Review Vol 9 No 6 1974 with Martin Gardner Date Sense The Compleat Magick Vol II Issue 161 with Walter B Gibson and Jerry Ross 1976 Rawson Transit The Fred Braue Notebooks Issue 4 1985 Simon Says Self Working Close up Card Magic with Karl Fulves Little Wonder Thought Projector The Fred Braue Notebooks Issue 8 1997 Clayton Rawson Magic Page by Page 2011 with Patrick Page As The Great Merlini edit Name Your Poison The Jinx No 132 1941Works featuring Clayton Rawson as a character editShort stories edit The 51st Sealed Room by Robert Arthur Collected in Tantalising Locked Room Mysteries 1982 edited Isaac Asimov Charles Harry Waugh and Martin Harry GreenbergReferences edit Nugent Frank S August 10 1939 Miracles for Sale 1939 THE SCREEN Murder in Magicians Row Is the Theme of Miracles for Sale the New Mystery at the Criterion The New York Times Penzler Otto et al Detectionary Woodstock New York Overlook Press 1977 ISBN 0 87951 041 2 Lake Talbot August 12 1938 Amateur Magician Mystifies His Readers Altoona Tribune Altoona Pennsylvania p 8 via newspapers com Mystery Writers of America A Historical Survey Archived 2007 08 12 at the Wayback Machine Whodunit a serial of aliasses page 7 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine spaceports com Retrieved March 1 2015 1 dead link Clayton Rawson Magicpedia geniimagazine com Retrieved 24 August 2018 External links editA listing of his works Click on green thumbtack to see an exhaustive list of his books and short stories Clayton Rawson at IMDb Works by or about Clayton Rawson at Internet Archive Clayton Rawson at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Clayton Rawson amp oldid 1161845688, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
