Irving Stone (born Tennenbaum,[1] July 14, 1903 – August 26, 1989) was an American writer, chiefly known for his biographical novels of noted artists, politicians, and intellectuals.
Irving and Lona Stone returned to the United States in the 1930s from Europe, where he had been researching Van Gogh for six months.
According to his afterword in Lust for Life, Stone relied on Van Gogh's letters to his brother, art dealer Theo.
In his introduction to The Origin, Stone documents that he and his wife lived for a while at Down House (Darwin's home for the final forty years of his life) during the research and writing of that book.
[2][3] In 1956, a film version was made of Lust for Life, based on his 1934 novel, starring Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh.
In 1965, a film was made of The Agony and the Ecstasy, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II.
Stone's 1975 book, The Greek Treasure, was the basis for the German television production Der geheimnisvolle Schatz von Troja (Hunt for Troy, 2007).