Eric Knight

Eric Mowbray Knight ( born April 10, 1897 in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, † January 14, 1943 in Suriname) was an American writer. His most famous book is Lassie Come Home, in which the films and television series about the Collie dog Lassie based.

Early years

Eric Knight was born in 1897 in England, but moved with his parents in his early childhood to South Africa because his father worked as a diamond merchant. When his mother married a U.S. citizen after the death of his father, Knight moved at the age of 15 years with her to Massachusetts.

After finishing school, Knight studied art at the New York National Academy of Design, after which he worked for various newspapers and wrote film reviews and screenplays, including for director Frank Capra.

Lassie

After his marriage with his wife, Jere, a successful sports fencer who was even nominated in 1932 for the Olympic Games, the two bought a farm in Springtown, Pennsylvania, where she teased Collies and other dogs. The model for Lassie was, according to Jere Knight collie Toots, the got the two as puppies and who died at the age of 14 years.

After the couple had moved to New York City, Knight wrote the short story of Lassie, which was first published on December 17, 1938 in the The Saturday Evening Post. They quickly became popular and the Winston -Verlag secured the rights to it. The 1940 published as a book story became an instant bestseller and now translated into 24 languages. MGM bought the film rights, and in 1943 appeared the first film Lassie Come Home ( ran in Germany under the title homesickness ) with the 10 -year-old Elizabeth Taylor. Other films and television series followed, and Lassie was the most famous dog in the world.

The worldwide success of the faithful Collie lady did not live to their creator Eric Knight. He visited the film set in 1942 from another visit, but died in January 1943 before the premiere when he crashed with an Army transport plane over the jungle near Paramaribo in Suriname. The cause of the crash was never clarified.

Other Publications (selection)

  • Invitation to Life (1934 )
  • Song on Your Bugles (1936 )
  • The Flying Yorkshireman (1938 )
  • The Happy Land ( 1940)
  • This Above All (1942 )

Swell

  • Biography, English
  • Interview with Knights widow Jere, English
  • Newspaper article about Knights death, English Template: Web archive / Maintenance / Nummerierte_Parameter
Name Authority File
838691
de