Queen, Ellery

Biography

Ellery Queen is a pseudonym for the writing team of Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971). Dannay and Lee were cousins who entered a writing contest co-sponsored by McClure's Magazine and Lippincott's publishing house, and formed the joint venture of Ellery Queen. Although they did not win the contest, the cousins were rewarded with a book publication deal. Between 1928 and 1971, "Ellery Queen" wrote radio shows, a monthly magazine, a weekly newspaper series, novels, and television series all centered around the investigator "Ellery Queen." In the beginning of their writing career, Dannay and Lee kept their identities secret, but revealed their authorship in 1936. Although their work tended to be a "whodunit" type of story, the authors did address current issues or problems. Their most controversial work was a radio show called "A Question of Color", which debuted on February 12, 1948, and confronted the issue of racism in America. Dannay and Lee were also the co-writers of the Barnaby Ross mystery novels.