Robert Crais
A crime novelist who traded Hollywood script rooms for the mean streets of Los Angeles, creating the enduring and deeply human detective Elvis Cole.
Born 1953 (age 73)·American author of detective fiction·Birthday: June 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Robert Crais learned about pacing, dialogue, and character under pressure in the writers' rooms of 1980s television, working on hits like 'Hill Street Blues' and 'Miami Vice.' But it was his own voice he wanted to hear. Leaving Hollywood behind, he channeled the spirit of classic detective fiction into a very modern creation: Elvis Cole, a wisecracking, compassionate private eye based in Los Angeles. The 1987 novel 'The Monkey's Raincoat' introduced Cole and his stoic partner Joe Pike, launching a series that would grow in emotional depth and complexity over decades. Crais's prose is taut and cinematic, but his true innovation was blending hard-boiled action with a surprising vulnerability, exploring the personal costs of violence and the fragile bonds of loyalty. His books, translated worldwide, prove the private eye novel is far from dead.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Robert was born in 1953, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Robert Was Born
The biggest hits of 1953
#1 Movie
Peter Pan
Best Picture
From Here to Eternity
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Robert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1953Born
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1958Started school
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1966Became a teenager
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Could drive
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1971Could vote
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Turned 21
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1983Turned 30
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 40
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 50
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 60
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 70
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 73 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Created the bestselling Elvis Cole and Joe Pike detective series, beginning with 'The Monkey's Raincoat' in 1987.
- Won the Anthony Award, the Macavity Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Novel for 'L.A. Requiem.'
- Successfully transitioned from a television screenwriter for major network shows to a full-time, best-selling novelist.
- His novels have been published in over 60 countries, achieving international bestseller status.
Did You Know?
He named his detective Elvis Cole as a tribute to two musical icons: Elvis Presley and Nat King Cole.
He wrote scripts for the television show 'L.A. Law' before creating his own literary version of Los Angeles.
He is a dedicated reviser, often writing more than a dozen drafts of a single novel.
The character of Joe Pike was initially intended to be killed off in the first book but proved too compelling to lose.
“The writing is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out what to write.”
