Terry Ramsaye

Terry Ramsaye (2 November 1885, Tonganoxie, Kansas - 19 August 1954, Norwalk, Connecticut) was a film historian and author of "A Million and One Nights" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1926).

Ramsaye started his professional career as an engineer but switched to journalism when he joined the staff of the "Kansas City Star and Times" in 1905. In the following decade, he worked on newspapers in Leavenworth, Kansas, and in Omaha, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Chicago.

The motion picture industry was in its infancy when he joined Mutual Film Corporation in 1915. While at Mutual, he produced some Charlie Chaplin comedies and founded "Screen Telegram", which achieved conspicuous success during World War I.

Subsequently he was associated with Samuel Roxy Rothafel in the management of Broadway's Rialto and Rivoli theaters. He also launched and edited the newsreel "Kinograms". After producing and editing numerous adventure films including "Grass" (1925) and "Simba: King of the Beasts" (1928) with explorers Martin and Osa Johnson, he became editor-in-chief of "Pathe News" and "Audio Review".

In 1931, Ramsaye joined the Quigley Publishing Company as editor of "The Motion Picture Herald", a post he held until 1941. Subsequently, he lectured on motion pictures and contributed articles to various encyclopedias and year books. He continued his association with Quigley as consulting editor and author of a weekly column for the "Herald" until his death in 1954.

References

*Dust jacket copy "About the Author" in the one-volume third printing (1964) of the original 1926 two-volume edition of Ramsaye's classic "A Million And One Nights".
*Thomas Edison and H. L. Mencken both spoke highly of his book which is subtitled "A History of the Motion Picture Through 1925".