James Hilton (novelist)
| James Hilton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
9 September 1900 Leigh, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 20 December 1954 (aged 54) Long Beach, California, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge |
| Genre | Fantasy, adventure novel, mainstream fiction |
| Spouse | Alice Brown (1935–1937; divorce) Galina Kopernak (1937–1945; divorce) |
James Hilton (9 September 1900 – 20 December 1954) was an English novelist best remembered for several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He also wrote Hollywood screenplays.
Born in Leigh, Lancashire, England, Hilton was the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. He was educated at The Leys School, Cambridge and then at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first novel, and was also awarded an honours degree in English literature. He started work as a journalist, first for the Manchester Guardian, then reviewing fiction for the Daily Telegraph.
He wrote his two most remembered books, Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips while living in a house on Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green. The house still stands, with a blue plaque marking Hilton's residence. By 1938 he had moved to California, and his work became more connected with the Hollywood film industry.
He married Alice Brown in 1935, but they divorced in 1937. He then married Galina Kopernak but divorced eight years later. He died in Long Beach, California, USA, from . His obituary in The Times describes him as "a modest and retiring man for all his success, he was a keen mountaineer and enjoyed music and travel."
Hilton's first novel, Catherine Herself, was published in 1920, when he was still an undergraduate. The next eleven years were difficult for him, and it was not until 1931 that he had success with the novel And Now Goodbye. Following this, several of his books were international bestsellers and inspired successful film adaptations, notably Lost Horizon (1933), which won a Hawthornden Prize; Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934); and Random Harvest (1941). After this, he continued to write, but the works were not regarded as of the same quality as his best-known novels.
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