Roderick Thorp
{{Short description|American writer (1936–1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Roderick Thorp
| birth_name = Roderick Mayne Thorp Jr.
| birth_date = September 1, 1936
| birth_place = Bronx, New York City, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|4|28|1936|9|1}}
| death_place = Oxnard, California, United States
| occupation = Novelist, writer
| genre = Crime
| notableworks = {{Plainlist|
}}
| image = Roderick thorp.jpeg
| caption = Thorp in 1977
}}
Roderick Mayne Thorp Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in police procedural/crime novels. His novel The Detective was adapted into a film of the same name in 1968. Thorp is also better known for its sequel, the bestselling novel, Nothing Lasts Forever, which later served as the basis for the film Die Hard, thus Thorp became a creator of the entire media franchise of the same name. Two other Thorp novels, Rainbow Drive and Devlin, were also adapted into TV movies.
Life
Thorp was born in Bronx, New York City. As a young college graduate, Thorp worked at a detective agency owned by his father. He would later teach literature and lecture on creative writing at schools and universities in New Jersey and California, and also wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. Thorp died of a heart attack in Oxnard, California.Nick Ravo [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDE143CF937A35756C0A96F958260 Roderick Thorp, 62, a Detective Turned Popular Crime Novelist]. The New York Times, 4. May 1999.Jack Adrian [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituaries-roderick-thorp-1095072.html Obituaries: Roderick Thorp]. The Independent, May 22, 1999Jon Thurber: [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-02-me-33289-story.html Roderick Thorp; Writer of ‘Die Hard,’ ‘The Detective’]. Los Angeles Times, 2. May 1999, S. B–5.
Novels
- Into the Forest (1961)
- The Detective (1966)
- Dionysus (1969)
- The Music of Their Laughter: An American Album (1970)
- Wives: An Investigation (1971)
- Slaves (1973)
- The Circle of Love (1974)
- Westfield (1977)
- Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) (reissued as Die Hard)
- Jenny and Barnum: A Novel of Love (1981)
- Rainbow Drive (1986)
- Devlin (1988)
- River: A Novel of the Green River Killings (1995)
Filmography
- The Detective (1968) (novel)
- Die Hard (1988) (novel)
- Rainbow Drive (1990) (book)
- Devlin (1992) (book)
- Deep Down (1994) (cast)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0861636}}
- [http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/242280.Roderick_Thorp Roderick Thorp at Goodreads]
{{Die Hard}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorp, Roderick}}
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:American crime fiction writers
Category:American male novelists