J. H. Wallis

American writer

J. H. Wallis (1885-1958) was a writer whose 1942 best-selling book Once Off Guard (later published as The Woman in the Window) was made into a film, The Woman in the Window (1944), directed by Fritz Lang.

Biography

James Harold Wallis was born in Iowa and educated at Yale. He was a newspaperman in Iowa, later writing full-time in New York.^[1]

Personal life

Wallis' daughter, Jane O’Neil Wallis Burrell, was the first CIA employee to die on the job.^[2][3][4][5]

Works

This list is incomplete.

• Youth [poems]. The Gorham Press. 1907.
• The Testament of William Windune: And Other Poems. Yale University Press. 1916.
• Murder by Formula (1931)
• The Capital City Mystery (1932)
• The Servant of Death (1932)
• Cries in the Night (1933)
• The Mystery of Vaucluse (1933)
• Murder Mansion (1934)
• Once Off Guard. E.P. Dutton. 1942.
• The Niece of Abraham Pein (1943)

References

1. Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Biographical Notes: Page 112". The General Fiction Magazine Index. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
2. "The Mystery of Jane Wallis Burrell: The First CIA Officer To Die in the Agency's Service". Small Wars Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-08-02. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
3. "Announce Wedding Of Jane O'Neil Wallis". Scarsdale Inquirer. HRVH Historical Newspapers. 28 July 1933. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
4. Aven, Andrea Wallis (31 August 2017). "My Aunt, The Spy". Edmond Outlook. Edmond, Oklahoma. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
5. "From the archives- The legacy of Jane O'Neil Wallis '33". The Sophian. Smith College. Retrieved 8 January 2023.

Further reading

• "WALLIS, James Harold". Encyclopedia Dubuque.
• W., A. (30 September 1949). "At the Palace". The New York Times.

External links

• Review of Once Off Guard Includes a brief biography of Wallis.