Elliott O’Donnell (27 February 1872 – 8 May 1965) was an author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He was born in Clifton, the son of Irishman Reverend Henry O’Donnell and English woman Elizabeth Mousley. Elliott O’Donnell claimed descent from Irish chieftains of ancient times. He was educated at Clifton College in Bristol, England, and later at Queen’s Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland. After originally intending to take his entry exams at Sandhurst with a view to joining the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), he later became a ghost hunter, but first he travelled in United States, working on a range in Oregon and becoming a policeman during the Chicago Railway Strike of 1894. Returning to England, he worked as a schoolmaster and trained for the theatre at the Henry Neville Studio, Oxford Street. In 1905, he married Ada O’Donnell and served in the British army in World War I, later acting on stage and in movies.
