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Wilkie Collins
Sign in to saveAlso known as William Wilkie Collins, William Collins
British writer (1824-1889)
Wilkie Collins was a British writer during the Victorian era best known for pioneering the mystery and detective novel genre with works like *The Moonstone* and *The Woman in White*. His innovative storytelling techniques and complex plots significantly influenced the development of modern crime fiction and made him one of the most popular authors of his time.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Film & TV
Marylebone, London, England, UK
Collins was born at 11 New Cavendish Street, Marylebone, London, the son of a well-known Royal Academician landscape painter, William Collins and his wife, Harriet Geddes. Named after his father, he swiftly became known by his middle name, which honoured his godfather, David Wilkie. The family moved to Pond Street, Hampstead, in 1826. In 1828 Collins's brother Charles Allston Collins was born.…
Known for
- The Flying Doctors — Priest1986
via TMDB
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Family name
- Collins
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Place of birth
- London
- Place of death
- London
- Father
- William Collins
- Sibling
- Charles Allston Collins
- Occupation
- barrister
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Notable work
- The Moonstone
- Field of work
- theatre
- Genre
- Gothic literature
- Official website
- wilkiecollins.com
- Image
- (William) Wilkie Collins by Rudolph Lehmann.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- P8168
- Valle-di-Mezzana
- contributor to the creative work or subject
- Household Words
- Commons category
- Wilkie Collins
- place of burial
- Kensal Green Cemetery
- date of birth
- 1824-01-01
- date of death
- 1889-01-01
- Commons gallery
- Wilkie Collins
- cause of death
- stroke
- Commons Creator page
- Wilkie Collins
- manner of death
- natural causes
- contributed to creative work
- Dictionary of National Biography
- writing language
- English language
- name in native language
- William Wilkie Collins
- archives at
- Harry Ransom Center
- ethnic group
- English people
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
12 objects attributed to Wilkie Collins, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~21 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for The Woman in White (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for The Moonstone (1868), which established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel and is also perhaps the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre.
Born to the London painter William Collins and his wife, Harriet Geddes, he moved with them to Italy when he was twelve, living there and in France for two years, learning both Italian and French. He worked initially as a tea merchant. After Antonina, his first novel, was published in 1850, Collins met Charles Dickens, who became his friend and mentor. Some of Collins' work appeared in Dickens' journals Household Words and All the Year Round. They also collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins gained financial stability and an international following by the 1860s. In the 1870s and 1880s, after becoming addicted to the opium which he took for his gout, the quality of his health declined and, in turn, the reception of his artistic output.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wilkie Collins” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.