Virginia Coffman
Virginia Edith Coffman was a notable American author and screenwriter, born on July 30, 1914, in San Francisco. She grew up in Southern California and developed a passion for film, which led her to write movie reviews for the Oakland Tribune in the 1930s. After earning her bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1938, Coffman moved to Reno, Nevada, where she and her sister were involved in local theater. In 1944, she relocated to Hollywood, working as a screenwriter for major studios like Columbia and RKO, while also acting occasionally.
Coffman gained prominence in the 1960s as a pioneer of the gothic romance genre, earning the title "Queen of the Gothics" after her novel "Moura" was published in 1959. Over her prolific career, she authored more than a hundred novels under various pseudonyms, focusing on historical romance, gothic elements, and suspense. Despite being a world traveler, Coffman preferred to write on a typewriter and never learned to drive. She was recognized for her contributions to literature, including induction into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1990. Virginia Coffman passed away on March 31, 2005, at the age of ninety, leaving behind a legacy as a significant figure in the gothic romance genre.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Virginia Coffman
Writer
- Born: July 30, 1914
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
- Died: March 30, 2005
Biography
Virginia Edith Coffman was born in San Francisco on July 30, 1914. Her father was William Coffman, a businessman who was a founder and long-term executive director of the Shrine East-West All-Star Football Game. Her mother, Edythe DeuVaul, was French. Virginia had one sister, Donnie, with whom she became very close.
The Coffman family lived primarily in Southern California during the first two decades of Virginia’s life. In the 1930’s, Virginia, who was an avid moviegoer throughout her life, began writing movie reviews for the Oakland Tribune. In 1938, she completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley.
In the early 1940’s, the sisters and their mother moved to Reno, Nevada, where both girls acted in local theater productions. Virginia moved to Hollywood in 1944 and spent the next twelve years as a screenwriter for television and movies. She worked for Columbia and RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Studios, and wrote for Hal Roach and Howard Hughes. She and her sister occasionally acted.
Coffman returned to Reno to live near her sister and mother in the 1950’s, and worked for a time as a secretary. She was still writing, however, and in 1959 Crown Publishing offered to publish her book, Moura. Moura was a new kind of novel, one that combined romance with gothic horror and mystery, and some critics consider Coffman the first writer of the “gothic romance.” By the 1960’s, demand for the new genre had risen, earning Coffman the nickname “Queen of the Gothics.”
Coffman became a full-time writer in 1965 and wrote over one hundred novels during her career, mostly historical romance, gothic romance, suspense, and mysteries. She used numerous pseudonyms, including Kay Cameron, Victor Cross, Jeanne Duval, Virginia C. Du Vaul, Diana Saunders, and Ann(e) Stanfield. She refused to use a computer and always wrote on a typewriter. Although she was a world traveler, she never learned to drive.
Coffman’s name has been added to the Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the West. She was a member of several professional writers organizations and was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2003, she donated a large collection of her books to the library at the University of Nevada, Reno. At the age of ninety, on March 31, 2005, Virginia Coffman died at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno. She had never married and was survived only by her sister, an acclaimed artist.