Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard
Leonard at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon, 2011
Born	Elmore John Leonard Jr. (1925-10-11)October 11, 1925 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	August 20, 2013(2013-08-20) (aged 87) Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	University of Detroit
Genre	Pulp fiction Westerns Crime fiction
Spouse	Beverly Claire Cline ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1977)​ Joan Shepard ​ ​ (m. 1979; died 1993)​ Christine Kent ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2012)​
Children	5, including Peter
Relatives	Megan Freels Johnston (granddaughter)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Petty officer third class
Unit	Seabees
Battles / wars	World War II

Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story- and screenwriter. He was, according to British journalist Anthony Lane, "hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land".^[1] His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are Hombre, Swag, City Primeval, LaBrava, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight and Tishomingo Blues.

Leonard's short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" was adapted as 3:10 to Yuma, which was remade in 2007. Rum Punch was adapted as the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown (1997). Steven Soderbergh adapted Out of Sight in 1998 into a film of the same name. Get Shorty was adapted into an eponymous film in 1995 and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. His writings were also the basis for The Tall T, as well as the FX television series Justified and Justified: City Primeval. Among other honors, he won the 2009 Pen Lifetime Award^[2] and the 2012 Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.^[3][4]