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Sax Rohmer

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Author

The Resume

    (February 15, 1883-June 1, 1959)
    Born in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Arthur Henry Ward
    Best known for creating the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu
    Wrote 'The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu' (1913), 'The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu' (1916), 'The Hand of Fu Manchu' (1917), 'Daughter of Fu Manchu' (1931), 'Mask of Fu Manchu' (1932), 'Bride of Fu Manchu' (1933), 'The Drums of Fu Manchu' (1939), 'The Island of Fu Manchu' (1941), 'The Shadow of Fu Manchu' (1948), 'Re-Enter: Fu Manchu' (1957) and 'Emperor Fu Manchu' (1959)
    Non-Fu Manchu titles include 'The Yellow Claw' (1915), 'Brood of the Witch Queen' (1918), 'The Quest of the Sacred Slipper' (1919), 'Tales of Chinatown' (1922), 'Moon of Madness' (1927), 'The Bat Flies Low' (1935), 'Hangover House' (1949), 'Sumuru' (1951) and 'Return of Sumuru' (1954)

Why he might be annoying:

    He kept his marriage to Rose Knox secret from the Knox family for two years, during which time Rose lived with her sister and he lived with his father.
    Despite the popularity of his books, he frequently found himself in financial trouble due to high living, gambling and several bad deals with his publishers.
    His best-known character is a compilation of racist 'yellow peril' cliches.
    His character became the namesake for the Fu Manchu mustache despite being clean shaven in the books.
    When the US entered World War II, publishers stopped printing his Fu Manchu books because they were considered insulting to our Chinese allies.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and Rose Knox were married for fifty years.
    He was good friends with Harry Houdini and based a crime-solving magician on the escape artist.
    He tried to kill off Fu Manchu after three books, but revived the character because of his popularity. (Shades of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.)
    The Times Literary Supplement claimed, 'Of all the villains populating 20th century imaginative landscapes, none linger in quite the same way as Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 92.31% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying