Cleveland Moffett (1863–1926) was an American journalist, novelist, and playwright whose career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Boonville, New York, Moffett was educated at St. Paul's School and graduated from Yale College in 1883. He began a prominent career in journalism shortly thereafter, joining the New York Herald in 1887. As a foreign correspondent, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, interviewing prominent global leaders. He later served as the foreign editor of the New York Recorder and returned to the Herald as its Sunday editor.
Alongside his journalistic endeavors, Moffett established himself as a versatile creative writer. He contributed numerous articles and short stories to popular magazines and weeklies. In 1894, he translated Paul Bourget's French novel Cosmopolis. He achieved significant literary fame with his 1895 mystery short story "The Mysterious Card," published in The Black Cat. The story became a sensation due to its unresolved puzzle, prompting Moffett to publish a sequel, "The Mysterious Card Revealed," the following year.
Moffett also ventured into playwriting and novel writing, often drawing on international settings from his journalistic travels. His notable theatrical works include Money Talks (1905) and The Battle (1908), the latter being a stage adaptation of his own 1907 novel, A King in Rags. Through his diverse output of reporting, suspenseful fiction, and drama, Moffett remained a notable figure in the turn-of-the-century American literary landscape.
