ERBzine 1295: ERB/Zane Grey Connection

Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since 1996 ~ 15,000 Webpages in Archive
Volume 1295
Presents

..ERB / Zane Grey Connection..

Part 2

...

By Bill Hillman

INTRODUCTION

ERB/ZG Connection 1

ERB/ZG Connection 2

ERB/ZG Connection 3

Zane Grey Bibliography

Zane Grey Tribute

Wheels ~ Sails ~ Wings

Both men shared a lifelong love of travel: trains, horses. . . and later on, high powered cars.

ZG often travelled through wilderness areas by horseback and canoe. But as he became more successful he developed an obsession for seafaring which took him to many Pacific locales, where he set impessive fishing records and picked up information for his many magazine articles on fishing. He liked big cars, favouring the Lincoln, but he also purchsed others such as the Stutz.

ERB drove the first electric horeseless carriage in Chicago, at the Columbian Exposition of 1893, and he pursued this love of motoring for the rest of his life. He took the family on an ardurous auto expedition from Chicago to California in 1916. Much of his income went toward high-priced cars - his favourites were the Packard and Cord. For a time this love of motion even took wings as he bought an aircraft and took flying lessons in the mid '30s.

With horse Juan Carlos

The Troubled Fisherman II

World record Nurse Shark 1936

Australia Expedition

Click: The electric horseless carriage Ed drove at the Chicago Exposition 1893

ERB's Electric Horseless Carriage

ERB and His Doo Dad Aircraft

ERB and his Cord Automobile

ERB's Last Driver's License

Past-Times
The authors spent much of their leisure time socializing over card games with family and friends: ZG mainly poker and ERB Bridge. Both men regularly attended football and baseball games, as well as boxing and wrestling matches. Although they read some of the popular novels and magazines of the day, their reading interests tended toward real-life adventrues, research material, biographies and accounts by explorers and travellers. It is not known how much of each other's writing they read but ERB has a number of ZG books in his personal library. The men never met.

Historical Novels

Early books by both men included historical novels:

ZG's first books were Betty Zane and George Washington: Frontiersman.

ERB's second novel was a story of old England: The Outlaw of Torn followed later by The Mad King.

George Washington

Betty Zane

Outlaw of Torn

The Mad King

Children 3 by 3
Both had one daughter and two sons and gave the family ancestral names.

ZG's children: Romer Grey (b. Oct. 1, 1909) ~ Elizabeth Zane Grey (b. April 22, 1912) ~ Loren Grey (b. Nov. 20, 1915)

ERB's children: Joan Burroughs (b. Jan. 12, 1908) ~ Hulbert Burroughs (b. Aug. 12, 1909) ~ John Coleman Burroughs (b. Feb. 28, 1913)

Betty Zane, ZG, Mrs. ZG, Loren, Romer: Altadena 1927

Hulbert, Emma, Jack, Joan Burroughs

Childish Pursuits

Both men were very close to their childen. The children of both men entered entertainment or artistic careers: Acting, writing, illustrating, photography -- and later took over their fathers' companies. The children soon shared their fathers' enthusiasm for horsemanship and the ourdoors.

Romer at Tonto Basin

Ed and daughter Joan

The Three Burroughs Kids

Young Hully Burroughs and rifle at Tarzana

Hully Burroughs Hunting Squirrels

. . . To Be Continued . . .

Both serialized many of their stories in magazines and newspapers. Both writers had stories published in Munsey's Argosy All-Story Magazine, working with editor Bob Davis. Later they sold stories to Blue Book magazine and to higher priced publications.

(ZG: Light of Western Stars, Rainbow Trail, Border Legion, The U.P. Trail ~ ERB: See the Illustrated Pulp Bibliography).Although they both had success in publishing material in magazines, they had trouble finding a publisher willing to publish their novels in hardcover. Once the books were published, however, they became blockbuster sellers for both authors.

American Aprl 1928

McCalls 1926

All-Story October 1912

Publishers
Both men had their first titles published by A. C. McClurg and A.L. Burt. Grosset & Dunlop provided cheaper reprints during and after the lifetimes of both men. The majority of ZG's first editions were published by Harpers. ERB eventually published his books under the company name: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

A. C. McClurg

Majesty's Rancho Published 1942

Burroughs Publishers

Incorporated
Both men were among the first artists to incorporate themselves using their own names as the corporate names:
Zane Grey, Inc. and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. ~ which gave them more control over their creative processes and helped to cut income tax.

Edgar Rice Burrough, Inc.

California Bound
Both families were devoted movie buffs. ERB even had regular showing for family and friends in the projection room at Tarzana ranch. The two writers moved to Southern California partially to escape the cold winters of the east but the most obvious reason was to take an active role in the film business since their books were naturals for the booming Hollywood film industry.

ZG had three novels filmed in 1918: Riders of the Purple Sage, Rainbow Trail and Border Legion. He set a price of $25,000 for each book filmed and wisely leased the rights to his titles for a seven year period.

ERB's Tarzan of the Apes was filmed in 1918 -- one of the first films to gross one million dollars.

Promotional Slides for ZG Films

Slide for Tarzan of the Apes 1918

Elmo Lincoln - the first film Tarzan and ERB

ERB and Elmo Lincoln On Set

Hollywood Heroes
Both men wrote books that were ideally suited to action films and their films made stars out of their most-used leading men:
Notably Randolph Scott and Tom Mix in the ZG western adaptations and Elmo Lincoln and Johnny Weissmuller in the ERB Tarzan films. Interestingly all three of these actors had close calls with lions on the set. Scott was mauled by a mountain lion during the filming of Man of the Forest and Lincoln reportedly had to kill an old attacking lion with his knife on the set of the 1918 film, Tarzan of the Apes.

ERB with Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller

ERB ~ Maureen O'Sullivan ~ Johnny Weissmuller

Tom Mix in the Last Trail

Randolph Scott

Movie Moguls
Both suffered disappointing deals with film companies and formed their own production companies -- neither of which were too successful.

Zane Grey sold his company, Zane Grey Productions, which eventually became Paramount pictures.

ERB's company produced a number of pictues including the New Adventures of Tarzan in Guatemala. A number of films were shot on location at his Tarzana Ranch, in and around Coonskin Cabin. The company ran into financial difficulties and did not last long. ERB married his co-producer's wife, Florence Gilbert soon after both he and she divorced their mates.

ZG Filming Riders of the Purple Sage 1918

Burroughs Tarzan Enterprises Film Co.

ERB overlooking a film shoot at Tarzana Ranch

ERB at Tarzana Ranch

Chasing the Dream
Both authors sold books in the millions ~ they were the best-selling authors of their day worldwide -- and they invested most of their incomes into making their dreams come true. They made considerable sums from writing royalties and spent money even faster. They both had fine homes in Southern California, including homes on Catalina Island.

ZG made millions of dollars in book royalties and film rights but most of it went toward paying for fishing yachts, such as "The Fisherman" that he had bought in Nova Scotia. He had houses at Lackawaxen, Altadena and on Catalina Island.

Much of ERB's income went toward high powered cars and paying the mortgage and upkeep on his Tarzana Ranch.

Lackawaxen House

Altadena House

ZG cabin at Tonto Rim

View from the Tonto Rim Cabin

...

ZG's Avalon House

The Fisherman at Tahiti

Aerial View of Tarzana Ranch in the Mid-'20s

ERB's House at Tarzana Ranch

ERB's Malibu Study

ERB and one of his Packards

26 Miles to Santa Catalina
Both men had ties with the Island of Catalina off the Southern California Coast.

ZG built an elaborate lodge on the island and used it as a home base for some of his most successful fishing exploits. Much of the wood used in the interior he brought back from voyages to the South Pacific. Today the building is a hotel.

ERB's family still use the Burroughs home on the island as a retreat. It has been a favourite family gathering place since it was purchased in 1950.

ZG's Catalina house overlooking the Tuna Club and harbour

ZG Catalina House

Zane Grey Hotel on Catalina Today