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Who was Anne Rice?
Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O’Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, Christian literature, and erotic literature.
She was best known for her series of novels The Vampire Chronicles. Books from The Vampire Chronicles were the subject of two film adaptations—Interview with the Vampire (1994) and Queen of the Damned (2002).
Anne Rice, the author of the best-selling Vampire Chronicles novel series, died Saturday, her son announced on social media. She passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke, Christopher Rice said.
Rice’s biggest success was her first novel, “Interview with the Vampire,” which was published in 1976 and introduced the character of the vampire Lestat, who would be the central character in the 13-book Chronicles series, the most recent of which was published in 2018.
“I had an idea of Lestat as the man of action, the man who could do things that I couldn’t do,” Rice said in a talk at Southern Illinois University in 2010.
“Interview with the Vampire” was made into a successful feature film in 1994, helping to reignite interest in the vampire genre which continued with the TV series “The Vampire Diaries” and the “Twilight” film series.
Although she lived most of her life in California, Rice was a native of New Orleans and set many of her stories there, according to her website biography.
Rice’s son, Christopher Rice, said he was at his mother’s bedside when she died. Anne Rice will be buried in a private ceremony in New Orleans, with a public memorial planned next year, he said.
Anne Rice Biography, Wiki
Anne Rice began life as “Howard Allen O’Brien”, the second of four daughters born to Howard and Katherine Allen O’Brien. She decided to call herself “Anne” when she enrolled in first grade at the Redemptorist Catholic School.
Her mother (who had long suffered from alcoholism) died when Anne was nearly fifteen. Her father remarried and soon relocated the family to Richardson (a suburb of Dallas), Texas. She graduated in 1959 and entered Texas Woman’s University where she completed two years of school in one.
In 1960, Anne moved to San Francisco, where she took a furnished apartment in the Haight-Ashbury district. In 1961, Anne married Stan Rice (who she had met in High School and who had proposed by telegram from Texas) and, in 1962, they were both living in Haight-Ashbury.
They graduated from San Francisco State in 1964, she in political science, he in creative writing. Their daughter, Michele, was born on September 21, 1966. In 1969, they moved to Berkeley. There, she wrote a short story, “Interview With the Vampire”.
In 1970, Michele was diagnosed with leukemia. In 1972, Anne received her M.A. in creative writing; Michele died August 5. The next year, Anne turned “Interview” into a novel, and, over a year later, Knopf offered her a $12,000 advance for it.
Christopher Rice was born on March 11, 1978. In 1980, they moved to San Francisco’s Castro District. “The Vampire Lestat” brought a $100,000 advance from Knopf.
In 1988, they moved to New Orleans and bought a mansion in the Garden District. Stan (who had chaired the creative writing program at S.F. State) turned to paint. “The Witching Hour” brought a $5 million advance.
In 1994, “Interview” was very successfully released as a movie (amid much controversy — some over content, mostly overcasting) and Anne entered into a $17 million contract for three more Vampire Chronicles.
| Born | Howard Allen Frances O’Brien October 4, 1941 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | December 11, 2021 (aged 80) |
| Penname | Anne Rampling A. N. Roquelaure |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
| Genre | Gothic fiction, horror, erotic literature, Christian novel, fantasy |
| Spouse | Stan Rice(m. 1961; died 2002) |
| Children | 2; including Christopher |
| Relatives | Alice Borchardt (sister) Allen Daviau (cousin) |
Anne Rice Career
Her literary career began in 1976 when her debut novel, ‘Interview with the Vampire’ was published. The novel was an expansion of a short story she had written some years ago, and it went on to become a bestseller.
She wrote a historical novel, ‘The Feast of all Saints’ in 1979, which dealt with the people of mixed race who lived before the Civil War. She followed it with another historical novel, ‘Cry to Heaven’, in 1982.
She started writing under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure and published a set of three erotic novels, known as ‘The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy’, which became very popular and overshadowed the success of her debut novel.
Her return to the gothic horror genre was marked by the publication of the novel ‘The Vampire Lestat’ in 1985. The novel covered the story of an impoverished aristocrat who becomes an arrogant vampire. In her next vampire novel, ‘The Queen of the Damned’ (1988), she gave a vivid description of the mythology of the origin of the vampires, dating back to Ancient Egypt.
In 1990, her first novel in the series ‘Lives of the Mayfair Witches’ was published. The book, titled ‘The Witching Hour’ was about a family of witches and their guiding spirit. The other two novels in the series ‘Lasher’ and ‘Taltos’ were published in 1993 and 1994 respectively.
During the 1990s, she released more vampire stories which included ‘The Tale of the Body Thief’ (1992), ‘Memnoch the Devil’ (1995), and ‘The Vampire Armand’ (1998).In the new millennium, she continued to write vampire novels, but she also began exploring a new genre—religion.
After being an atheist for years, she returned to Christianity and published ‘Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt’ in 2005.‘Angel Time’, the first book in the ‘Songs of the Seraphim’ series was out in 2009, followed by ‘Of Love and Evil’ in the same series in 2010.
Her latest series is ‘The Wolf Gift Chronicles’. The first novel ‘The Wolf Gift’ was published in 2012 while the second one, ‘The Wolves of Midwinter’ was out in 2013.
Anne Rice Personal Life
She was married to poet Stan Rice from 1961 till his death in 2002. The couple had two children. Their daughter Michelle died of leukemia as a small child while their son Christopher is a popular novelist.
She was raised in a Roman Catholic family but took to atheism as an adult. She converted back to Catholicism a few years ago only to renounce the religion again.
Anne Rice Awards
She won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2003.
The award is given to living artists for “superior achievement in an entire career which has substantially influenced the horror genre”.
Anne Rice FAQ’s
Who was Anne Rice?
Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O’Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, Christian literature, and erotic literature.
How old was Anne Rice?
Anne Rice died at 80.
How did Anne Rice die?
She passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke, Christopher Rice said.
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