Background
Kenneth Millar (1915-1983) was born in Los Gatos, California; his parents were Canadian,
and he was raised in the town of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. His father abandoned the family
when Millar was four years old, and he was raised by his mother; they moved multiple times
while he was growing up, but he moved back to Kitchener as a young adult. Millar graduated
from the University of Western Ontario with an Honors degree in History and English; he
received a PhD in literature from the University of Michigan in 1952. He married Margaret
Sturm in 1938; they had one daughter. During World War Two, Millar served as a naval
communications officer from 1944 to 1946; after the war, the family moved to Santa Barbara,
California. Millar began writing stories for pulp magazines and by 1944 had written four
novels under his own name; his fifth novel in 1949 was written as John Macdonald, then he
briefly used John Ross Macdonald before settling on Ross Macdonald from the mid-1950s
onward. Millar decided to use a pseudonym to avoid confusion with Margaret who was also a
successful mystery writer as Margaret Millar. Kenneth Millar primarily wrote crime fiction
novels set in Southern California which featured a private detective named Lew Archer; most
of the books were set around the fictional town of Santa Teresa which was based upon Santa
Barbara. Millar's Archer novels are widely considered to be some of the most significant
American mystery books of the mid-20th century for the psychological depth of his
characters, his use of language, and the sophisticated imagery he employed. Several of his
novels have been made into movies and television pilots including: The Moving Target (filmed
as Harper with Paul Newman), The Drowning Pool (also filmed with Paul Newman), and The
Underground Man (television series pilot). He won the 1965 CWA Gold Dagger Award for The Far
Side of the Dollar among other awards. Millar published eighteen novels, short story
collections, and many omnibus editions featuring the character of Lew Archer. In 1980,
Millar was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and he died of complications of the disease
in Santa Barbara on July 11, 1983.
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.