Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (May 6, 1868 – April 15, 1927) was a French author best known in the English-speaking for his novel The Phantom of the Opera.  He produced many works of adventure, mystery, horror, romance and fantasy. His contribution to French detective fiction equals that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the UK and Edgar Allan Poe in the United States.

He was born in Paris into a well-to-do family in the ship-building business. He was raised in the village of St. Valery-en-Caux on the coast of Normandy and schooled in Caen and then Paris, obtaining a law degree in 1889. His father’s death in that same year left him a wealthy man, enabling him to indulge in the good life and pursue a career as a journalist, court reporter and drama critic.  He covered trials and executions, interviewed prisoners, and traveled to Asia, Africa, and Russia to cover events, including the Russian Revolution of 1905.  After years of experimenting with novels and works for the stage, he turned to fiction full time in 1907, publishing The Mystery of the Yellow Room in 1908, the first of seven mysteries featuring reporter Joseph Rouletabille.  He published a total of 36 novels over the course of about 20 years, including four in the Cherie-Bibi series.  With Athur Bernede he formed the Societe des Cinemoromans to publish novels concurrent with their release as films.

After a short-lived marriage to Marie Lefranc in 1899 he met Jeanne Cayatte in 1902, with whom he had two children and who he married in 1917.  He died and was buried at age 59 in Nice.