H. De Vere Stacpoole

(b. Kingston, Ireland, 09/04/1863 – d. Isle of Wight, 12/04/1951). Author. Born in Kingston (now Dun Laoghaire), Henry De Vere Stacpoole graduated as a physician in 1891. He became a ship’s doctor and travelled extensively, which was reflected in his writings. An extremely prolific author and, at the time, a tremendously popular one, he is probably best known for The Blue Lagoon (published in 1908), which was filmed three times, originally by William Bowden (1923), for African Film Productions. Molly Adair and Arthur Pusey came out from England to star in the production and Adair stayed on to act in the film version of The Reef of Stars (published in 1916), directed by Joseph Albrecht (1924). Stacpoole’s The Vulture’s Prey (also published in 1908), which he wrote under the pseudonym of Tyler De Saix, was in fact the first of his books filmed by AFP and was directed by Dick Cruikshanks and William Bowden (1922). (FO)