Charles Williams

Charles Williams (1909-1975) was an American writer of hardboiled crime fiction. He is regarded by critics as one of the finest suspense novelists of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1951 debut, the pulp paperback novel Hill Girl, sold over a million copies. A dozen of his books have been adapted for the screen. Williams was born in the central Texas town of San Angelo. He served for ten years in the U.S. Merchant Marine before leaving to marry Lasca Foster. Williams spent the rest of his professional career as a writer. After the death of his wife from cancer in 1972, he ultimately relocated to Los Angeles. Williams committed suicide in his apartment in the Van Nuys neighborhood in early April 1975.