Robert Bloch

Robert Albert Bloch was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small amount of science fiction. His writing career lasted 60 years, including more than 30 years in television and film. He began his professional writing career immediately after graduation from high school, aged 17. Best known as the writer of Psycho (1959), the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. He was a protégé of H. P. Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent. However, while he started emulating Lovecraft and his brand of cosmic horror, he later specialized in crime and horror stories working with a more psychological approach.

5 April 1917

Born on the same birth date (5 April 1917): Frans Gommers

Born on the same birth day (5 April): Chen Yanqing • Friedrich Sigmund Merkel • Hans Schuberth • Jean Baptiste Seroux d'Agincourt • Jules Ferry • Károly Sós • Lana Clarkson • Leonid Fedun • Marissa Nadler • Mike McCready • Odlanier Solís • Pasquale Anfossi • Ronnie White

Born in the same month (April 1917): Elmer Gedeon • Grigori Kuzmin • Helen Forrest • Henry Hewes (critic) • Jean Lucas (racing driver) • Leonora Carrington • Robert Burns Woodward • Robert Orville Anderson • Ron Burgess (footballer) • Sydney Newman • Vinoo Mankad • Winifred Asprey • Yvette Chauviré