Clarence Edward Mulford

Clarence Edward Mulford was an American writer, best known as the creator of the character Hopalong Cassidy.

Mulford was born in Streator, Illinois. He created Hopalong Cassidy in 1904 while living in Fryeburg, Maine, and the many short stories and 28 novels were adapted to radio, feature film, television, and comic books, often deviating significantly from the original stories, especially in the character's traits. While many of his stories depicted Cassidy and other men of the Bar-20 ranch, he also wrote novels (and short stories) of other Westerners, starting with Johnny Nelson in 1920. He also wrote nonfiction, mostly about the American West, the outdoors, and motoring.

More than just writing a very popular series of Westerns, Mulford recreated an entire detailed and authentic world filled with characters drawn from his extensive library research. His biographer, Francis Nevins, characterized Mulford's writing as "rooted in Victorian convention." Nevins also states that he originated the Western series that has continuous characters, and that, unlike the characters of most later Western series writers, his characters aged.

He died of complications from surgery in Portland, Maine. He set aside much of his money from his books for local charities.