Biography

British novelist Robert Smythe Hichens was born at Speldhurst in Kent, England, in 1864. He was educated at a variety of schools, including the Royal College of Music in London (his father was H.C. Hichens, the Canon of Canterbury, and wanted his son to study at Oxford, but Robert preferred a musical education, and was eventually allowed to do so). He also studied journalism for a year, and after leaving that class he began to write, first for newspapers and then short stories. His first novel, "The Green Carnation", was inspired after he spent a winter in Egypt, and it turned out to be successful both in Europe and the US.

He joined the staff of the "London World" newspaper as music critic (his predecessor was George Bernard Shaw), a post he held for three years before resigning and embarking on a long period of travel and residing in a number of countries, including Italy and Switzerland, and traveling extensively in North Africa. where he got the inspiration to write what is one of his best known novels, "The Garden of Allah" (famously filmed with Marlene Dietrich as Le jardin d'Allah (1936)). Egypt again was the inspiration for another successful novel, "Bella Donna". His best known novel is probably "The Paradine Case", which was turned into a film by Alfred Hitchcock (Le procès Paradine (1947)).

Hichens was a prolific writer, turning out approximately 50 books and a score of articles for various newspapers and magazines. He died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1950.

- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com