Dennis Lehane

Personal life

Lehane was born and raised in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He lived in the Boston area most of his life, where he sets most of his books, but now lives in southern California. He spent summers on Fieldston Beach in Marshfield. Lehane is the youngest of five children. His father was a foreman for Sears & Roebuck, and his mother worked in a Boston public school cafeteria. Both of his parents emigrated from Ireland. Lehane is a graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

His brother, Gerry Lehane, who is two and a half years older than Dennis, trained at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence and became an actor in New York in 1990. Gerry is a member of the Invisible City Theatre Company.

Lehane is married to Chisa Lehane. He has two children from a previous marriage.

He is a graduate of Boston College High School (a Jesuit prep school), Eckerd College (where he found his passion for writing), and the graduate program in creative writing at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He occasionally made guest appearances as himself in the ABC comedy/drama TV series Castle.

Career

Literary career

Lehane's first novel, A Drink Before the War (1994), which introduced the recurring characters Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, won the 1995 Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel. The fourth novel in the series, Gone, Baby, Gone, was adapted into a film of the same title in 2007; it was directed by Ben Affleck and starred Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan as Kenzie and Gennaro. Commenting on the movie after a sneak peek, Lehane said, "I saw the movie and it's terrific, I wasn't gonna say anything if I didn't like it but it's really terrific." Reportedly, Lehane "has never wanted to write the screenplays for the films [based on his own books], because he says he has 'no desire to operate on my own child.'"

Lehane's novel Mystic River was adapted into a film in 2003; also called Mystic River and directed by Clint Eastwood, it starred Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. Lehane can be briefly seen waving from a car in the parade scene at the end of the film. The novel itself was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel, the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction, and France's Prix Mystère de la critique.

Lehane's first play, Coronado, debuted in New York in December 2005, produced by Invisible City Theater Company. The play had its regional premiere at American Stage in St. Petersburg in April 2006 and its Midwest premiere in the fall of 2007 with Steep Theatre Company in Chicago. Coronado is based on his acclaimed short story Until Gwen, which was originally published in The Atlantic Monthly and was selected for both The Best American Short Stories and The Best Mystery Short Stories of 2005.

Lehane described working on his historical novel, The Given Day, as "a five- or six-year project." the novel opens in 1918 and encompasses the 1919 Boston Police Strike and its aftermath. According to Lehane, "The strike changed everything. It had a big effect on the unionization movement, and Prohibition came on the heels of that, then Calvin Coolidge promising to break the unions. That's all linked to what's going on now.". While Lehane's epic novel centers on the 1919 Boston police strike, it contains a national sweep and may be the first of a trilogy or perhaps a four-book series. Lehane called the novel his "great white whale" and said that when he finally finished it, he would "either write a sequel—or take a break from the cops and return to Patrick and Angie." The novel was published in October 2008.

On October 22, 2007, Paramount Pictures announced that it had optioned Shutter Island with Martin Scorsese attached as director. The Laeta Kalogridis-scripted adaptation has Leonardo DiCaprio playing U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, "who is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island." Mark Ruffalo plays U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule. Production started in March 2008; Shutter Island was released on February 19, 2010.

In 2010 Lehane published Moonlight Mile, his sixth book in the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series, and his first of that genre in 11 years. He published World Gone By in March 2015.

Lehane was appointed to the board of trustees of the Boston Public Library by Mayor Thomas Menino in December 2011.

Lehane's Small Mercies received praise from Richard Russo, who said: "Think of all your favorite hard-boiled authors (Hammett? Chandler? Ross Macdonald? Robert Parker?) and their tough guy heroes (Spade? Marlowe? Lew Archer? Spenser?). Not one of them could take Lehane's Mary Pat in a fair fight, and they wouldn't last a day in his Southie."

Teaching career

Since becoming a literary success, Lehane has taught at several colleges. He taught fiction writing and serves as a member of the board of directors for the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. He has also taught advanced fiction writing at Harvard University.

In May 2005, Lehane was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Eckerd College and was appointed to Eckerd's board of trustees later that year. As of June 2006, he was living temporarily in St. Petersburg, Florida, and teaching as writer-in-residence at Eckerd (usually during the spring semester), where he also co-directs the Writers in Paradise conference each January.

Film career

Lehane wrote and directed an independent film called Neighborhoods in the mid-1990s. Later described as similar to Good Will Hunting, it was set in Boston's working class areas like Southie and Dorchester. Its production ended in 1996, more than a year before the better-known Good Will Hunting.

Lehane joined the writing staff of the HBO drama series The Wire for the third season in 2004. Lehane wrote the teleplay for the episode "Dead Soldiers" from a story by series creator and executive producer David Simon. Lehane made a cameo appearance in the third-season episode, "Middle Ground," as Sullivan, an officer in charge of special equipment.{{cite episode| title = Middle Ground| episode-link = Middle Ground (The Wire episode)

He served as an executive producer for Shutter Island. On November 27, 2012, The Boston Herald reported that Lehane would join the writing staff of HBO's Boardwalk Empire as a writer and a creative consultant. He will consult with showrunner Terence Winter on the outline of the fourth season of the show, and he confirmed that he would write at least one episode.

Lehane wrote his first film screenplay, The Drop, as an adaptation of his short story "Animal Rescue". The film stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, and James Gandolfini (in his final film performance). Released September 12, 2014, the movie received positive reviews, particularly for its "smartly written script." In 2013 Lehane was contracted to write a screenplay, Silk Road, about the online black market. That same year he was attached to adapt the script for the remake of the critically acclaimed French film A Prophet, a prison drama.

Works

Bibliography

Novels

Kenzie & Gennaro series:

1. A Drink Before the War (1994).
2. Darkness, Take My Hand (1996).
3. Sacred (1997).
4. Gone, Baby, Gone (1998).
5. Prayers for Rain (1999).
6. Moonlight Mile (2010).

Coughlin series:

1. The Given Day (2008).
2. Live by Night (2012).
3. World Gone By (2015).

Stand-alones:

• Mystic River (2001).
• Shutter Island (2003).
• Coronado: Stories (2006).
• The Drop (2014).
• Since We Fell (2017).
• Small Mercies (2023).

Short stories

• "Until Gwen" (The Atlantic, June 2004)
• "Animal Rescue" (2009)
• "Red Eye" – in "FaceOff" (2014), co-written with Michael Connelly; a Harry Bosch story, with Patrick Kenzie

Filmography

• Mystic River (2003) novel the film is based on
• The Wire (2002 TV series) writer
  • Episode 3.03 "Dead Soldiers" (2004) story and teleplay
  • Episode 3.11 "Middle Ground" (2004) actor
  • Episode 4.04 "Refugees" (2006) story and teleplay
  • Episode 5.08 "Clarifications" (2008) story and teleplay
• Shutter Island (2010) executive producer
• Castle (2009) actor, as himself
  • Episode 3.21 "The Dead Pool" (2011)
• Boardwalk Empire (2013 TV series) writer; creative consultant
  • Episode 4.02 "Resignation" (2013)
• The Drop (2014) screenwriter, based on his own short story "Animal Rescue"
• Mr. Mercedes (2017 TV series) writer; consulting producer
  • Episode 1.04 "Gods Who Fall" (2017)
  • Episode 1.06 "People in the Rain" (2017)
  • Episode 1.07 "Willow Lake" (2017)
  • Episode 1.10 "Jibber-Jibber Chicken Dinner" (2017)
  • Episode 2.01 "Missed You" (2018)
  • Episode 2.07 "Fell On Black Days" (2018, with Samantha Stratton & Mike Batistick)
  • Episode 2.09 "Walk Like a Man" (2018, with David E. Kelley)
• The Outsider (2020 miniseries) writer
  • Episode 1.07 "In the Pines, In the Pines" (2020)
  • Episode 1.09 "Tigers and Bears" (2020)
• Black Bird (2022 miniseries) developer and writer
• Smoke (2025 miniseries) developer and writer

Awards and nominations

;Notes

• A Shared with Brian Helgeland, while tied with Gary Ross and Laura Hillenbrand for Seabiscuit
• B Also shared with Helgeland.
• C Shared with Ed Burns, Kia Corthron, David Mills, Eric Overmyer, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon and William F. Zorzi.
• D Shared with Burns, Chris Collins, Corthron, Mills, Overmyer, Pelecanos, Price, Simon and Zorzi.
• E Also shared with Burns, Collins, Mills, Pelecanos, Price, Simon and Zorzi.
• F Shared with Terence Winter, Nelson Johnson, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki, Cristine Chambers, David Flebotte, David M. Matthews, David Stenn, and Jennifer Ames.

He has won other professional awards and honorary degrees: In Spring 2009, Lehane received the Joseph E. Connor Award and was made an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau professional fraternity at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Other brothers and Connor Award recipients include Robert Frost, Elia Kazan, Jack Lemmon, Red Skelton, Edward R. Murrow, Yul Brynner, and Walter Cronkite. Also in Spring 2009, Lehane presented the commencement speech at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, and was awarded an honorary degree. On October 6, 2015, Lehane won a spot in Best American Mystery Stories.

Novelizations

• Novel The Drop, novelization of film The Drop (2014)

Adaptations

• Mystic River (2003), film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on novel Mystic River
• Gone Baby Gone (2007), film directed by Ben Affleck, based on novel Gone, Baby, Gone
• Shutter Island (2010), film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on novel Shutter Island
• The Drop (2014), film directed by Michaël R. Roskam, based on short story "Animal Rescue"
• Live by Night (2016), film directed by Ben Affleck, based on novel Live by Night
• Gone Baby Gone (2018), unreleased telefilm directed by Phillip Noyce, based on novel Gone, Baby, Gone

References

References

1. . (August 4, 2005). ["Literary and Historical Notes"](http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2005/08/04). *American Public Media*.
2. National Public Radio program May 10, 2017, interview by Robin Young
3. Kristen Walsh, "Lehane likes to keep it close to home; Dorchester native favors South Shore locales", ''[[The Patriot Ledger]]'' (Quincy, MA). June 9, 2007. Pg. ONE21.
4. [http://www.mysteryauthorsonline.com/lehane.html Bio: Dennis Lehane] {{webarchive. link. (2007-09-27 . ''Mystery Authors Online''. 2004. Accessed July 13, 2007.)
5. link. (2007-10-04 . Eckerd College Commencement 2005. Accessed July 13, 2007.)
6. Bella English, "In a Related Story: The Brothers Lehane have a strong bond, and a new shared stage," ''[[The Boston Globe]]''. November 29, 2005. Pg. C1.
7. (17 December 2018). "dennislehane.com".
8. "Inside Track; Lehane: 'Gone' great, baby, great" by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Erin Hayes. ''[[The Boston Herald]]''. July 10, 2007. Pg. 010.
9. "coronadotheplay.com".
10. "After tedious first act, dark drama kicks into overdrive" by Marty Clear. ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' (Florida). April 27, 2006. Pg. 2B.
11. Steve Persall, "Staying True to His Words," ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' (Florida). Floridian; Pg. 1E. October 18, 2007.
12. Greenya, John. (November 30, 2008). "The Given Day by Dennis Lehane". [[The Washington Times]].
13. Jon Wilson, "Novelist sees college as creative hub," ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' (Florida). September 25, 2005. Pg. 9.
14. Colette Bancroft, "From Passing Thought to 'Fiery Epic'", ''St. Petersburg Times (Florida)'', Festival of Reading; Pg. 5. October 23, 2008.
15. (October 22, 2007). ""Scorsese, DiCaprio team for 'Island': Paramount, Columbia to co-produce film" by Michael Fleming". [[Variety (magazine).
16. Reagan, Gillian, [http://www.observer.com/2007/scorsese-dicaprio-team-shutter-island "Scorsese, DiCaprio Team Up for ''Shutter Island''"] {{webarchive. link. (2011-06-16 , ''[[The New York Observer]]'' citing ''Variety'', October 23, 2007. Retrieved 2010-12-19.)
17. Reagan, Gillian, [http://www.observer.com/2007/ruffalo-star-scorseses-island "Ruffalo to Star in Scorsese's ''Shutter Island''"] {{webarchive. link. (2011-06-16 , ''The New York Observer'', November 27, 2007 9:41 a.m ET. Retrieved 2010-12-19.)
18. Kung, Michelle. (February 12, 2010). "The Author Who Aced Hollywood". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
19. Dumcius, Gintautas. (January 12, 2012). "Dot author Lehane tries on BPL trustee hat".
20. (20 July 2023). "Richard Russo Misses the Purity of Childhood Reading". The New York Times.
21. Carol Beggy and Mark Shanahan, "Just call him Professor Lehane," ''The Boston Globe''. July 12, 2006. Pg. E2.
22. "The Eckerd College Writers in Paradise Home Page". Writersinparadise.eckerd.edu.
23. (2007). "Dennis Lehane biography". HBO.
24. (2007). "Season 3 crew". HBO.
25. (2004). "Episode guide - episode 28 Dead Soldiers". HBO.
26. "Dead Soldiers".
27. (2004). "Episode guide - episode 36 middle ground". HBO.
28. Margaret Talbot. (2007). "Stealing Life".
29. (2006). "Episode guide - episode 41 Refugees". HBO.
30. "Refugees".
31. "Curtains Receives Edgar Award Nomination". Theatre Mania.
32. (2007). "2008 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced". WGA.
33. (2008). "Episode guide - episode 58 Clarifications". HBO.
34. "Clarifications".
35. (2008). "2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". [[Writers Guild of America Awards]].
36. (November 27, 2012). "Dennis Lehane signs on to HBO's 'Empire'". [[Boston Herald]].
37. (12 September 2014). "The Drop".
38. Jones, J. R.. "The Drop". [[Chicago Reader]].
39. Hawker, Philippa. (October 17, 2013). "Silk Roads Webbed Tale of Drugs and Murder to Become Film". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
40. Kroll, Justin. (October 29, 2013). "Dennis Lehane to Write Remake of French Pic 'A Prophet' for Sony (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
41. "Past Scripter Awards: 2004". usc.edu.
42. "Search the Edgar® Award Winners And Nominees". TheEdgars.com.
43. (May 3, 2013). "Dennis Lehane's ''Live by Night'' best novel of the year". The Boston Globe.
44. "2012-13: THE SEASON OF AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM".
45. Rosen, David. (March 31, 2009). "Author, Screenwriter Dennis Lehane is honored at Emerson College".
46. "Connor Award Recipients".
47. English, Bella. (May 14, 2009). "Speakers reach for words that fit the times". The Boston Globe.