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Edgar Rice Burroughs created Tarzan of the Apes in 1912, launching a global phenomenon. He wrote 91 novels, 26 of which were about Tarzan, and became the world’s best-selling author by his death in 1950. His works inspired many including Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Edgar Rice Burroughs — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Edgar Rice Burroughs by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Edgar Rice Burroughs — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
A mediocre student who failed the West Point examination, Edgar Rice Burroughs spent the next seven years as a cowboy, a gold miner, a railroad policeman, and a department manager for Sears Roebuck. He was born in Chicago on September 1, 1875 to Mary Evaline Zieger and George Tyler Burroughs, a Union army major, and attended Phillips Academy and Michigan Military Academy. His own experiences became material for his adventure stories.
The year 1912 brought Burroughs his first two publications in All-Story Magazine: A Princess of Mars originally Under the Moons of Mars and Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan was an immediate hit, going to hardback in 1914. A film adaptation starring Elmo Lincoln opened on Broadway on January 27, 1918, grossing over $1,000,000. Burroughs moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1919, establishing Tarzana Ranch. He was at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and later served as a war correspondent. A heart condition forced his return, and he died on March 19, 1950. He wrote 91 novels, 26 featuring Tarzan.
Burroughs married Emma Hulbert in 1900 and had a son, John Coleman, before divorcing in 1934. A second marriage to Florence Gilbert in 1935 ended in divorce in 1941. Joan, his daughter, married actor James Pierce, who played Tarzan in the 1927 film Tarzan and the Golden Lion; the couple later voiced Tarzan and Jane on radio from 1932 to 1936. Burroughs stayed close to his ex-stepdaughter Cindy Cullen until his death. Film director Wes Anderson is his great-grandson.
Ray Bradbury, Carl Sagan, and Jane Goodall all cited Burroughs as an influence, along with science fiction writers like Arthur C. Clarke and filmmakers George Lucas and James Cameron. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin called him his favorite author. Posthumous honors include the Inkpot Award and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. In 2012 the U.S. issued a commemorative stamp featuring Burroughs in Tarzana, a city named after Tarzan. Burroughs created Tarzan, a character known around the world.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Edgar Rice Burroughs — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Edgar Rice Burroughs's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
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A wall of memorable lines from Edgar Rice Burroughs — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Death, Only, Renders Hope Futile.
I Loved Her. I Still Love Her, Though I Curse Her in My Sleep, so Nearly One Are Love and Hate, the Two Most Powerful and Devastating Emotions That Control Man, Nations, Life.
Anger and Hate Against One We Love Steels Our Hearts, but Contempt or Pity Leaves Us Silent and Ashamed.
I Write to Escape; to Escape Poverty.
Imagination Is but Another Name for Super Intelligence.
It Never Seems to Occur to Some People, That, Like Beauty, a Sense of Humor May Sometimes Be Fatal.
She Did Not Admire Him Any More Than She Had. It Was Merely That She Considered Him the Lesser of Two Evils.
The More One Listens to Ordinary Conversations the More Apparent It Becomes That the Reasoning Faculties of the Brain Take Little Part in the Direction of the Vocal Organs.
Love Is a Strange Master, and Human Nature Is Still Stranger.
Were There No Desire There Would Be No Virtue, and Because One Man Desires What Another Does Not, Who Shall Say Whether the Child of His Desire Be Vice or Virtue?
Little-known facts about Edgar Rice Burroughs — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
At the time of his death in 1950, Burroughs was the world’s best-selling author.
He is the great-grandfather of film director Wes Anderson.
The city of Tarzana, California, was named after his most famous creation, Tarzan.
Writers and scientists such as Ray Bradbury, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, Jane Goodall, Ronald Reagan, Billy Graham, George Lucas, and James Cameron have cited his writings as a major influence.
He did not start writing until the age of 35.
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin once said that Burroughs was his favorite author.
Before becoming a writer, he drifted for seven years, supporting himself with low-paid jobs like selling pencil sharpeners.
His remains were interred under a walnut tree at the Burroughs Office Building in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California.
A publisher who had planned to reject his book The Outlaw of Torn wrote to say his reviewer stayed up half the night reading it.
His first Mars book was published under the pseudonym Normal Bean; publishers changed it to Norman Bean, thinking it was a typographical error. Burroughs used the pseudonym to indicate he was in a normal state of mind.
The Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. offices are on Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana, in a jungle oasis housing memorabilia. His childhood home in Oak Park, Chicago, still stands with a bronze marker placed on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
He was pictured on a U.S. forever commemorative postage stamp issued on August 17, 2012, in Tarzana, California, with an initial price of 45 cents.
His daughter Joan married actor James Pierce, who played Tarzan in the 1927 film Tarzan and the Golden Lion; the couple later voiced Tarzan and Jane on radio from 1932 to 1936.
Most of his stories are written in the first person.
Although agnostic, he patterned the story of Tarzan and Jane after Adam and Eve, with Tarzan successfully guarding his jungle and mate, unlike Adam.
A guide to his Mars books is A Guide to Barsoom by John Flint Roy.
He and his second wife Florence Gilbert lived in Palm Springs from 1935 to 1940. He was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars on April 4, 2023.
He remained close with his ex-stepdaughter Cindy Cullen until his death in 1950, much to her mother Florence Gilbert’s disappointment.
His second wife Florence Gilbert was previously married to producer and actor Ashton Dearholt.
His biography is included in Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Vol. 131, pages 47-51.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Celebrities similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs — same craft, ranked by reach.
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