- Was asked by his editor to shorten his novel "White Jazz" from 900 pages to 350. Rather than removing sub-plots, Ellroy achieved this by eliminating verbs, creating a unique style of prose.
- The brutal murder of his mother, Jean Ellroy, in 1958, was the basis of his 1996 memoir "My Dark Places".
- "The Black Dahlia" (1987) was his seventh novel. It was based on the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. The same case was also the basis for John Gregory Dunne's 1977 novel and later movie True Confessions (1981) with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall ). Black Dahlia was the first novel in a series to become known as "The L.A. Quartet." "L.A. Confidential," "White Jazz," and "The Big Nowhere" are the other novels in the quartet.
- Is an avid fan of ex-LAPD officer turned novelist Joseph Wambaugh.
- In an article for the UK magazine Neon, Ellroy listed these as his ten favorite crime movies: L.A. Confidential (1997), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Prowler (1951), Crime Wave (1954), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), The Killing (1956), Plunder Road (1957), The Lineup (1958), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), Vertigo (1958).
- During a 2005 book tour, Ellroy predicted that the film adaptation of his novel, The Black Dahlia, would be "an intriguing flop". The film was a box office failure.
- Writes all his novels longhand as he has never learned to use a computer or even type. Doesn't own a cell phone.
- Is a good friend of crime novelist Edward Bunker.
- Prior to his success, he used to work as a golf caddy at the Bel Air Country Club. His first novel, "Brown's Requiem," was directly inspired by this experience.
- In an E-pinion article on Empire Online, James Ellroy listed these as his Top 10 favorite films: Vertigo (1958), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Prowler (1951), The Lineup (1958), The Big Knife (1955), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Double Indemnity (1944), Out of the Past (1947), 711 Ocean Drive (1950).
- Is a huge supporter of the Los Angeles Police Department. He also has several friends on the force, like robbery-homicide Detective Rick Jackson and L.A. County Sheriff William Stoner.
- Wrote several scripts that never got made. Among others: White Heat, the remake of Raoul Walsh's classic; 77, a tough police drama set in South Central dealing with the SLA shootout with SWAT in the seventies; White Jazz, an adaptation of his own crime novel; and Mr. Smith, a film noir inspired by the real-life activities of LAPD firearms expert Richard Smith.
- According to the author, his novel "The Black Dahlia" sold 50 times as many books in 7 weeks as "L.A. Confidential" sold in 22 years.
- His first unpublished novel was titled "L.A. Death Trap", which was later revised to give the first drafts of "Blood on the Moon", "Because the Night" and "Suicide Hill", three novels also known as the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy.
- Had a cameo in the film of his novel Stay Clean.
- A crime novelist. Fellow crime novelist Robert Crais must be a fan of Ellroy because he name-checks him in his novel, The Sentry.
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