Mary Higgins Clark.

Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins was born on December 24, 1927 in the Bronx, New York City. As a teenager, she worked as a switchboard operator at a hotel, attended secretarial school, and then became a stewardess with Pan American World Airways. She studied at Fordham University, where she began writing.

Over 36 movies adapted Mary Higgins Clark’s suspense novels. In 2002, she published her memoir Kitchen Privileges, recounting her life from switchboard operator to author. She appeared as a guest on The View and The Early Show, and acted in Remember Me 1995 and Lucky Day 2002. Clark served on the Board of Directors for the Mystery Writers of America and received the Grand Master distinction.

Mary Higgins Clark married three times: to Warren Francis Clark from 1949 until his death in 1964, to Raymond Charles Ploetz from 1978 to 1986, and to John Joseph Conheeney from 1996 until his death in 2018. She had one child with her first husband, best-selling author Carol Higgins Clark. She resided in Saddle River, New Jersey for many years.

Mary Higgins Clark earned the moniker The Queen of Suspense for her thrillers, which have sold millions and been adapted into over 36 films. The New Jersey Hall of Fame inducted her in 2011, and she is also in the Irish American Hall of Fame. She received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France in 2000, and the Pope named her a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Her Grand Master award from Mystery Writers of America marks her lasting impact on the genre.