1870
Oct. 29--Pearl Eugenie
Hurlburt (Cissy Chandler) born in Perry, Ohio
1888
July 23--Raymond Thornton
Chandler born in Chicago
1895
Parents divorce; Chandler
moves to London with his mother
1900
Fall--Enters Dulwich
College
1905
April--Leaves Dulwich
Travels to Paris to study French
|
1906
Moves to Germany to continue
language studies
1907
Spring--Returns
to England, becomes a naturalized British subject
Summer--Passes Civil
Service Exam, takes job in the Admiralty
1908
Dec. 19--First poem,
"The Unknown Love," published in Chambers's Journal
1909-1912
Leaves the Admiralty
Works briefly as a reporter
for the London Daily Express
Contributes poems, sketches,
essays, and translations to the Westminster Gazette and The Academy
1912
Returns to America, lives
briefly in St. Louis and Omaha, then moves to California
Works odd jobs in and around
Los Angeles
1913
Enrolls in nightschool
bookkeeping course Works as bookkeeper and accountant at Los Angeles Creamery
Chandler's mother comes from
England to live with him
1916
Living at 311 Loma Drive,
downtown Los Angeles
|
1917
August--Enlists
in Canadian army
Dec. 7--Arrives in
Liverpool, England
1918
March--Assigned
to 7th Batallion of Canadian Expeditionary Force, sent to France
June--Chandler's transferred
to Royal Air Force, attends aviation training school
November-- Armistice
declared
1919
Feb. 20--Chandler
receives discharge from army
|
Returns to United States,
travels along Pacific coast
Moves to San Francisco, takes
job at an English bank
Returns to Los Angeles, works
for Los Angeles Creamery
Begins affair with Cissy
Pascal
July 10--Cissy Pascal
files for divorce from husband
1920
Oct. 24--Cissy's
divorce final
1922
Chandler takes bookkeeping
job with Dabney oil syndicate, soon rises to position of vice-president
1924
January--Florence
Chandler (Raymond's mother) dies
Feb. 6--Chandler marries
Cissy Pascal
1928
The Chandlers move
to 1024 South Highland Avenue
1930
Chandlers move from
South Higland Avenue
|
1932
Chandler fired from
Dabney Oil Syndicate for drinking and absenteeism
Chandler goes to Seattle
without Cissy
Cissy becomes ill, Chandler
returns to L.A.
Move to 4616 Greenwood Place
1933
December--"Blackmailers
Don't Shoot" published in Black Mask
1934
July--"Smart-Aleck
Kill" published in Black Mask
October--"Finger Man"
published in Black Mask
1935
January--"Killer
in the Rain" published in Black Mask
June--"Nevada Gas"
published in Black Mask
October--Writes "Improvisation
for Cissy" (poem)
November--"Spanish
Blood" published in Black Mask
1936
January--"Guns at
Cyrano's" published in Black Mask
Jan. 11--Chandler
attends Black Mask dinner, meets Dashiell Hammett
March--"The Man Who
Liked Dogs" published in Black Mask
30 May--"Noon Street
Nemesis" published in Detective Fiction Weekly
June--"Goldfish" published
in Black Mask
September--"The Curtain"
published in Black Mask
Earns $1,500 from five
stories
1937
January--"Try the
Girl" published in Black Mask
15 June--Date of first
known Chandler letter (to editor of Fortnightly Intruder)
November--"Mandarin's
Jade" published in Dime Detective
| 1938
January--"Red Wind"
published in Dime Detective
March--"The King in
Yellow" published in Dime Detective
Spring--Chandler begins
writing The Big Sleep
June--"Bay City Blues"
published in Dime Detective
Earns $1,275 for 3 Dime
Detective stories
|
1939
January--"The Lady
in the Lake" published in Dime Detective
Feb. 6--Publication
of The Big Sleep by Alfred A. Knopf
Mar. 13--Begins work
on The Lady in the Lake
Mar. 16--Chandler
writes plan for future work (three detective novels then a non-mystery
project)
April--Puts aside
The Lady in the Lake, begins Farewell, My Lovely
May--The Chandlers
rent a cabin near Big Bear Lake
Works briefly on The
Lady in the Lake
June--Returns to Farewell,
My Lovely
Sept. 15--Finishes
first draft of Farewell, My Lovely
Sept. 29--Offers to
volunteer for Candian Army; is rejected
December--Moves to
La Jolla, California, for the winter
1940
Leaves La Jolla, settles
in Arcadia, California
Apr. 30--Finishes revisions
of Farewell, My Lovely
Begins writing The High
Window
Summer--Moves to Big
Bear Lake
Oct. 1--Publication
of Farewell, My Lovely by Knopf
1941
February--Moves
to 857 Iliff St. in Pacific Palisades
July--Sells film rights
to Farewell, My Lovely to RKO for $2,000
September--Finishes
draft of The High Window
1942
Moves to 12216 Shetland
Ln. in Brentwood Heights
Mar. 3--Sends off revisions
of The High Window
May--Sells The
High Window to 20th Century Fox for $3,500
Publication of Avon edition
of The Big Sleep, Chandler's first appearance in paperback
Summer--The Chandlers
move to Idyllwild, California (near Palm Springs)
Aug. 17--The High
Window published by Knopf
Chandlers Move to Cathedral
City
1943
April--Chandler
finishes The Lady in the Lake
Mid-year--Chandler
signs contract to collaborate with Billy Wilder on screen adaptation of
James M. Cain's Double Indemnity
Rents home at 6520
Drexel Avenue
Chandler has affair with
Paramount secretary
Nov. 1--The Lady in
the Lake published by Knopf
|
|
1944
April--Double
Indemnity released by Paramount
Warner Brothers buys screen
rights to The Big Sleep
September--Chandler's
Paramount contract expires; he spends rest of year writing at home
1945
January--Chandler
returns to work at Paramount
Writes The Blue Dahlia
July--Begins working
on screenplay for The Lady in the Lake for MGM, abandons the project
after 13 weeks
November--"Writers in
Hollywood" published in the Atlantic
Chandler nominated for
Academy award for The Blue Dahlia
1946
The Chandlers move from
Los Angeles to La Jolla
Buy house at 6005 Camino
de la Costa
Chandler Begins extensive
correspondence with publishers, agents, and other professional friends
November--Breaks with
agent Sydney Sanders
1947
spring--Signs
contract with Universal to write Playback screenplay
summer--NBC airs "Philip
Marlowe" radio program as summer replacement for the Bob Hope show
1948
May--Signs with
Brandt & Brandt literary agency
June--"Oscar Night
in Hollywood" published in The Atlantic
September--Completes
The Little Sister
CBS buys rights to "The
Adventures of Philip Marlowe" radio show
|
1949
June 24--Publication
of The Little Sister by Hamish Hamilton (UK)
July--Featured in
Newsweek article
Sept. 24--Publication
of The Little Sister by Houghton Mifflin, Chandler's new U.S. publisher
Ill with bronchitis, allegies,
and shingles
Cancels planned trip to England
1950
Publication of The Simple
Art of Murder
Engages Juanita Messick as
private secretary
July--Begins work with
Alfred Hitchcock on film version of Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on
a Train
1951
February--J. B.
Priestly visits Chandler in La Jolla
Summer--S. J. Perelman
visits
Chandler works on new novel
Autumn--Vacations in
Santa Barbara, one of many trips to desert climates for health reasons
1952
February--"Ten Percent
of Your Life" (article on literary agents) published in the Atlantic
May--Completes draft
of The Long Good-Bye, sends it to Brandt & Brandt agency
Brandt & Brandt returns
manuscript, suggests revisions
Aug. 20--The Chandlers
sail for England
October--Return to La
Jolla
November--Chandler terminates
his account with Brandt & Brandt
Cissy Chandler's health
worsens
1953
Chandler works on revising
The Long Good-Bye
Nov. 27--The Long
Good-Bye published in Great Britain by Hamish Hamilton
1954
Cissy Chandler hospitalized
repeatedly
Mar. 1--The Long
Goodbye published in U.S. by Houghton Mifflin
Dec. 12--Cissy Chandler
dies
1955
Chandler begins
drinking heavily
February--Attempts
suicide, confined to county hospital then private sanitarium
March--Sells house
in La Jolla, visits friends in Chicago and New York
|
April--Travels to
England alone
Becomes friends with London
artists and literary figures, including Stephen and Natasha Spender, Ian
Fleming, and Helga Greene (who later acts as his literary agent)
September--Chandler's
residential permit expires
Returns to United States
November--Flies back
to London
December--Travels
to Madrid and Tangier
1956
Lives in London until May,
when forced to return to the U.S. for tax reasons
May--Hospitalized in
New York City for alcoholism and exhaustion
June--Returns to La
Jolla, takes apartment at 6925 Neptune Place
July--Hospitalized
at Chula Vista clinic
December--Travels
to Palm Springs and Arizona
| 1957
Works on novel version
of Playback
Becomes involved in tax dispute
with British authorities, decides not to return to England as planned
autumn--Helga Greene
visits Chandler in La Jolla
December--Chandler
completes Playback
|
1958
February--Returns
to London
April--Travels to
Capri and Naples, where he interviews Lucky Luciano for an article that
is never published
May--Becomes ill,
recuperates in London nursing home
July---Publication
of Playback
August--Returns to
Las Jolla
Resumes heavy drinking
and is often hospitalized
Involved in disputes over
will arrangements, domestic and secretarial help
1959
February--Proposes
marriage to Helga Greene
March--Travels to
New York to accept presidency of Mystery Writers of America
Falls ill with pneumonia
26 March--Dies in the
Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California