Stephen King (Stephen Edwin King, born 21 September 1947) is an American author of horror, suspense and fantasy fiction. His novels include Carrie, The Shining, Misery and the eight-volume Dark Tower series, and many of them have been made into films and television series. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2014. This biography follows his life and career up to November 2026.
Stephen King at a Glance
| Full name | Stephen Edwin King |
| Born | 21 September 1947, Portland, Maine, United States |
| Age | 79 (as of November 2026) |
| Profession | Novelist and short-story writer |
| Debut novel | Carrie (1974) |
| Pen name | Richard Bachman |
| Honours | National Book Foundation Medal (2003); Grand Master Award (2007); National Medal of Arts (2014) |
| Spouse | Tabitha King (married 1971) |
Early Life and First Stories
King was born in Portland, Maine, and studied at the University of Maine, where he earned a degree in English in 1970. He sold his first professional short story, "The Glass Floor", to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. He married Tabitha Spruce in 1971, and they have three children, including the writers Joe Hill and Owen King.
Carrie, The Shining and the 1970s
His first novel, Carrie (1974), was published after his wife encouraged him to continue the story when he had thrown away the first pages. The Shining (1977) was inspired by a visit to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. He began the Dark Tower series in 1978, and the eight volumes were published between 1978 and 2012.
Richard Bachman and Recovery
King wrote five short novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman until Steve Brown exposed the identity in 1985. After The Tommyknockers, his wife held an intervention and he agreed to seek treatment for his addiction, and Needful Things (1991) was his first novel after he became sober. In 1999 he was hospitalised after being hit by a van.
Adaptations
Film and television versions of his work include Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), The Dead Zone (1983), Stand by Me (1986), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Green Mile (1999), It (2017), The Life of Chuck (2024) and The Long Walk (2025).
Awards and Recent Work
King received an O. Henry Award in 1996 for the story "The Man in the Black Suit", the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2003, and the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America in 2007. His novel 11/22/63 won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2011, and Mr. Mercedes (2014) won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2014 he received the National Medal of Arts. His recent books include The Institute (2019), If It Bleeds (2020), Fairy Tale (2022), Holly (2023), You Like It Darker (2024) and Never Flinch (2025).
Legacy
King helped to make horror a mainstream genre. His stories about small towns, childhood and addiction draw on his own life, and they remain among the most widely adapted in modern fiction.
