His father was a minister and the family lived for part of Douglas's boyhood in Monroeville and Wilmot, Indiana; and Florence, Kentucky.
He served in pastorates in North Manchester, Indiana; Lancaster, Ohio; and Washington, D.C.[1] After being ordained, Douglas married Bessie I. Porch.
Critics held that his type of fiction was in the tradition of the great religious writings of an earlier generation, such as Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis.
[citation needed] Douglas followed this with his novels Forgive Us Our Trespasses; Precious Jeopardy; Green Light; White Banners; Disputed Passage; Invitation To Live; Doctor Hudson's Secret Journal; The Robe; and The Big Fisherman.
Magnificent Obsession was adapted twice for the screen, first in 1935 in a film starring Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne, and in 1954, with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman.
Having had an unhappy experience with filming adaptations of his works, when he wrote The Big Fisherman as the sequel to The Robe, Douglas made certain stipulations related to his publication.
Douglas's last book was the autobiographical Time To Remember, which described his life up to his childhood and education for the ministry.