Westlake, Donald E. (1933-2008), was an American author and screenwriter best known for his crime and mystery fiction. Critics have praised Westlake’s novels for their fine plotting and swift narrative pace.
Westlake probably became best known for a series of humorous crime novels featuring John Dortmunder, beginning with The Hot Rock (1970). Dortmunder is an unlucky criminal whose attempts at a crime usually result in comic failure. Westlake also wrote the thrillers The Ax (1997) and The Hook (2000).
Westlake wrote under a number of pen names in addition to his own name. Under the name of Richard Stark, he wrote about a ruthless professional criminal known only as Parker. He introduced Parker in the novel The Hunter (1962, reissued in 1973 as Point Blank). Westlake also wrote under the names Tucker Coe, J. Morgan Cunningham, John B. Allan, Timothy J. Culver, Curt Clark, Alan Marshall, and Edwin West.
Many of Westlake’s novels have been adapted into motion pictures, including Point Blank (1967), The Hot Rock (1972), Bank Shot (1974), and What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001). Westlake was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for The Grifters (1990), an adaptation of a crime novel by the American author Jim Thompson. Westlake also wrote the screenplays for the suspense film The Stepfather (1986) and the crime movie Cops and Robbers (1973). A selection of Westlake’s nonfiction was collected in The Getaway Car (published in 2015, after his death).
Donald Edwin Westlake was born on July 12, 1933, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. He worked at several jobs until becoming a full-time writer in 1959. His first book was The Mercenaries (1960). He died on Dec. 31, 2008.
