With limited formal education, Rohmer worked at various jobs including bank clerk, errand boy for a newspaper and reporter for the weekly Commercial Intelligence. An interest in Ancient Egypt and the Occult led him to publish his first story, The Mysterious Mummy, in Pearson's Weekly in 1903. This interest also later led to his most famous character Dr. Fu-Manchu, which he introduced in 1913 in The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu. It was an immediate success and propelled Rohmer into the limelight. Rohmer invented other well-known characters such as the detectives Gaston Max, Morris Klaw, Paul Harley and inspector Red Kerry, but Fu-Manchu remained his most famous and lucrative. Rohmer travelled widely and also lived in America for a number of years. In addition to his novels and stories, Rohmer also wrote songs and produced works for the stage. Rohmer's works include The Yellow Claw (1915), The Devil Doctor (1916), The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919), Bat-Wing (1921), Tales of Chinatown (1922), She Who Sleeps (1928), The Day the World Ended (1930), The Daughter of Fu-Manchu (1931), The Trail of Fu-Manchu (1934), The Island of Fu-Manchu (1941), Seven Sins (1943), Hangover House (1949), and Emperor Fu-Manchu (1959). |
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