Robert Arthur Jr.
Robert Arthur Jr. at work during 1950.
Robert Arthur Jr. at work during 1950.
BornRobert Arthur Jr.
(1909-11-10)November 10, 1909
Corregidor, Philippines
DiedMay 2, 1969(1969-05-02) (aged 59)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
OccupationWriter
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
GenreCrime fiction, speculative fiction, mystery fiction
Arthur's novelette "The Mirror of Cagliostro " was the cover story for the June 1963 issue of Fantastic Stories, illustrated by Lee Brown Coye
Arthur as pictured in Wonder Stories in 1931

Robert Arthur Jr. (November 10, 1909 – May 2, 1969) was a writer and editor of crime fiction and speculative fiction[1] known for his work with The Mysterious Traveler radio series and for writing The Three Investigators, a series of young adult novels.[2][3]

For his radio work, Arthur—together with writing partner David Kogan—was honored with three Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America.[4][5][6] He also adapted at least one story, and had several of his own adapted by others, for Alfred Hitchcock's TV show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.[7]

Biography

Personal life

Arthur was born on November 10, 1909, in Fort Mills, Corregidor Island in the Philippines while his father, Robert Arthur Sr., was stationed there as a lieutenant in the United States Army. Arthur spent his childhood moving from place to place, wherever his father was stationed.[8]

Although he was accepted to West Point Arthur decided not to pursue a military career like his father and instead in 1926 enrolled at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. After two years, he transferred to the University of Michigan, where he graduated from with a B.A. in English in 1930.

Arthur died at the age of fifty-nine in Philadelphia, on May 2, 1969.[9]

Professional career

After graduating, he worked as an editor and later returned to the University of Michigan where he completed his M.A. in Journalism in 1932.[10]

Writing for fiction magazines and TV

His stories were published in, among other magazines, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Mercury Mystery , Amazing Stories, Argosy All-Story Weekly, Black Mask, Collier's, Detective Fiction Weekly, Detective Tales, Double Detective, The Illustrated Detective Magazine, The Phantom Detective, The Shadow, Startling Stories, Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, Thrilling Detective, Unknown Worlds and Wonder Stories.

Additionally, Arthur wrote a number of mystery novels for children and young adults. His most successful stories were a series of mystery books called The Three Investigators.

In 1959, he moved to Hollywood and began writing and editing screenplays and scripts for television shows.[11]

Radio

Arthur, along with his writing partner David Kogan, was honored three times by the Mystery Writers of America with Edgar Awards for his radio work: twice for "best radio drama"—in 1950 for Murder by Experts and 1953 for The Mysterious Traveler[12][13]—and once, regarding his work on both of the aforementioned shows, in 1951 for "outstanding achievement in producing, directing and writing radio mystery shows."[6]

Other radio credits include: Dark Destiny (1942), Adventure Into Fear (1945), The Sealed Book (1945), The Teller of Tales (1950) and Mystery Time (1952).

Bibliography

"Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" novels

Three Investigator novels numbered 10 and 12 to 43 were written by other authors.

Short story collections by Robert Arthur Jr.

  • Ghosts and More Ghosts (1963)
  • Mystery and More Mystery (1966)
  • The Midnight Visitor

Short story collections edited by Robert Arthur Jr.

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories for Late at Night (1961)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful (1961)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery (1962)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself-Mysteries (1963) (All stories written by Robert Arthur with the exception of "The Mystery of the Sinister Theft")
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories That My Mother Never Told Me (1963)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum (1965)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories Not for the Nervous (1965)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Sinister Spies (1966)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories That Scared Even Me (1967)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbinders in Suspense (1967)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV (1968)
  • Davy Jones Haunted Locker (1965)
  • Spies and More Spies (1967)
  • Thrillers and More Thrillers (1968)
  • Monster Mix (1968)
  • Alfred Hitchcock's Daring Detectives (1969)

Television writing credits

References

  1. ↑ Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 19. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
  2. ↑ Keating, Patrick (July 7, 2010). "'Red Gate Rover, come over, come over.' 'Three Investigators' mystery series finally make it to film". Michigan Chronicle. p. B2. ProQuest 741333214. Arthur (Nov. 10, 1909 - May 2, 1969), whose credits include co-creation of the radio program The Mysterious Traveler; and editing or ghost-editing various Alfred Hitchcock short story anthologies, wrote 10 books in the series before his death; including the first Three Investigators book I read, in fourth grade: The Mystery of the Talking Skull.
  3. ↑ Idato, Michael (January 8, 2023). "New flesh on solid mystery bones: Couch life". The Age. p. 16. ProQuest 2769958004. Even the title of the opening episode (Dead Man's Hand) feels straight out of junior mystery literature. It could have been a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew title, or better yet Robert Arthur Jnr's The Three Investigators, which, of the three franchises, was always the one that felt most enmeshed in the American 'burbs.
  4. ↑ Urban, Joe (April 24, 1950). "Radio Chatter: 'Murder by Experts' Gets Award From Poe Group". Janesville Daily Gazette. p. 8. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  5. ↑ Boucher, Anthony (April 23, 1953). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. p. BR31. ProQuest 112741661. At their annual awards banquet last week the Mystery Writers of America bestowed busts of Edgar Allan Poe (known to writers as 'Edgars' and to publishers' cliche experts as 'much-coveted Edgars') upon the authors of the following 1952 books [...] The other Edgars (to 'The Mysterious Traveler' in radio, to 'Dragnet' in TV and to 'Five Fingers' in films) lie outside the scope of this department, but I must observe that in the last eight years of M.W.A. awards, I can't recall a more completely unarguable batch of winning books.
  6. 1 2 Tranter, Don (April 30, 1951) "Don Tranter's Comment on RADIO—TV". Buffalo Courier Express. p. 16. Retrieved November 16, 2023. See also:
  7. ↑ Gianakos, Larry James (1987). Television Drama Series Programming : A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1982-1984. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. p. 604, 608, 612. ISBN 0810818760.
  8. ↑ "Robert Arthur Jr. Bio". www.elizabetharthur.org. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Robert Arthur Jr. Bio". www.elizabetharthur.org. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Robert Arthur Jr. Bio". www.elizabetharthur.org. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Robert Arthur Jr". www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ Urban, Joe (April 24, 1950). "Radio Chatter: 'Murder by Experts' Gets Award From Poe Group". Janesville Daily Gazette. p. 8. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  13. ↑ Boucher, Anthony (April 23, 1953). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. p. BR31. ProQuest 112741661. At their annual awards banquet last week the Mystery Writers of America bestowed busts of Edgar Allan Poe (known to writers as ]Edgars' and to publishers' cliche experts as 'much-coveted Edgars') upon the authors of the following 1952 books [...] The other Edgars (to 'The Mysterious Traveler' in radio, to 'Dragnet' in TV and to 'Five Fingers' in films) lie outside the scope of this department, but I must observe that in the last eight years of M.W.A. awards, I can't recall a more completely unarguable batch of winning books.
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