Zane Grey was born on January 31, 1872, in Zanesville, Ohio. He was best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the American frontier. The critically acclaimed Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) has become one of the bestselling and most popular books of all time. Over one hundred films, television episodes, and program series, including Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater, have been based loosely on his novels and short stories. He died on October 23, 1939, at his home in Altadena, California.