LeRoux, Gaston: - Detective fiction writer Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist who lived from May 6, 1868, until April 15, 1927. His most well-known work in the English-speaking world is The Phantom of the Opera (1909), which has been adapted for the stage and screen multiple times. The most notable adaptations are the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney. One of the most well-known mysteries involving locked rooms is his 1907 book The Mystery of the Yellow Room. After returning from reporting a volcanic explosion in 1907 and being assigned to another job without vacation time, he left journalism and started writing fiction. He also attended a case that included a thorough study and coverage of the former Paris Opera, which is now home to the Paris Ballet. There was a cell in the basement that housed Paris Commune inmates.