Author Biography
Sax Rohmer was a prolific English mystery writer who was best known for creating the master criminal Dr. Fu-Manchu. The golden age of Fu-Manchu stories and the peak of Rohmer's career was in the 1930s. Sinister, Oriental Fu-Manchu stereotypes, which were feared since the turn of the century, appeared frequently in popular fiction at that time. Among the best-known doppelgangers is the title character from Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Dr. No. Sax Rohmer was born Arthur Henry Ward in 1883 in Birmingham, England, to Irish parents. He received no formal schooling until he was about ten years old. Rohmer, impressed by his mother's claims that he was a descendent of the famous seventeenth-century Irish general Patrick Sarsfield, adopted the name Sarsfield. His pen name came from sax which was Saxon for blade and rohmer which meant roamer. Rohmer worked in odd jobs before starting his writing career at age twenty. In 1909 he married Rose Knox, who was purportedly psychic. In addition to stories and serials, Rohmer wrote comedy sketches for entertainers. His first Fu-Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was written in 1913 and gained immediate success. In 1915 Rohmer invented his detective character Gaston Max, who first appeared in The Yellow Claw. From the 1920s through the 1930s, Rohmer was one of the most widely read and highly paid magazine writers in the English language. Success brought Rohmer temporary financial security, and he traveled to the Near East, Jamaica, and Egypt. But he lost most of his fortune while gambling in Monte Carlo. After World War II, the Rohmers moved back to the United States and ultimately settled in White Plains, New York. Sax died from a combination of pneumonia and a stroke on June 1, 1959. John Bolen brings his extensive theater, film, and television experience to audiobooks. Recent television appearances include CIA: Masters of Deception on the Discovery Channel and Courage on the Fox Family Channel. His recent film work includes The Land, The Inn Outside the World, Dream Parlor, and the American Film Institute's Women Directors Workshop short This Is Bill.John has performed at many theaters in the Los Angeles area. He portrayed Sir David Metcalfe in Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Jim in Later Life. He was featured as Dr. Montague in The Haunting of Hill House, Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mr. Meeker in Inherit the Wind, Henri and the shore patrolman in South Pacific, and Lord Montague in Romeo and Juliet. He starred as Palmer Forrester in Murder Among Friends and Dr. Gerald Lyman in Bus Stop. John has also performed in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Tribunal, A Dickens of a Christmas, Once Upon a Mattress, Fiddler on the Roof, and Finian's Rainbow. He performs in an ongoing school touring production of Billy's Closet. He is also a playwright and a member of the New Voices Playwrights Theatre. John and his wife, Lynne, live in Irvine, California.
