Born in Birmingham, Rohmer had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write.

Rohmer, like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, was a member of one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. :

His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for music hall performers and short stories and serials for magazines. In 1909 he married Rose Knox. He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized over 1912-13. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. After World War II the Rohmers moved to New York.

Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza .

Ward was often attacked, even shortly after the Manchu stories were published, for creating a character that reflected "racist assumptions". He himself, "bemused" at the furor, occasionally defended his character by saying that the portrait was "fundamentally truthful" because "criminality was often rampant among the Chinese", especially in Limehouse.

Films

A number of films were made featuring Dr. Fu Manchu. Warner Oland starred in three early talkies: 1929's The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, 1930's The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu, and 1931's Daughter of the Dragon. Boris Karloff starred in 1932's The Mask of Fu Manchu. There was a Republic Pictures serial, Drums of Fu Manchu in 1940 and a short-lived TV series, The Adventures of Fu Manchu in 1956. The character was revived after his creator's death for a series of variable quality starring Christopher Lee: The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968), and The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969). Pulp film legend Harry Alan Towers produced two films based on the Sumuru character in the 1960s, and an updated space fantasy version in 2002.Legendary comic actor Peter Sellers starred in the 1980 spoof, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. The Fu Manchu characters were featured in Marvel Comics' long-running series, Master of Kung-Fu and were revived for two novels by Rohmer's friend and biographer, Cay Van Ash. A new authorized novel featuring the characters, The Terror of Fu Manchu by William Patrick Maynard was published in April 2009. A direct sequel, The Destiny of Fu Manchu was announced the following year.

The opening track and first single from the Mountain Goats album Heretic Pride is entitled "Sax Rohmer #1". It includes a reference to "spies from imperial China".

• Elaine H. Kim, Asian American Literature, an introduction to the writings and their social context, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1982 (especially the chapter on Fu Manchu).

• Pause!, 1910
• Little Tich (Autobiography)(ghostwritten by Ward) 191?
• The Sins of Severac Bablon, 1914
• The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, [US Title: The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu] 1913
• The Yellow Claw, 1915
• The Exploits of Captain O'Hagan 1916
• The Devil Doctor, [US Title: The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu] 1916
• The Si-Fan Mysteries, [US Title: The Hand of Fu Manchu] 1917 "Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie, aided by Scotland Yard, battle the evil genius, Fu Manchu, and his mysterious, world-wide organization, the Si-Fan. The scene in London ranges from foreign embassies to the underworld; the stakes are no less than world domination. Using weapons that range from crude missiles to occult animal magnetism, the Orientals threaten to extinguish the white race and to make Dr. Fu Manchu Emperor of the World."
• Brood of the Witch Queen, 1918
• Tales of Secret Egypt, 1918
• The Orchard of Tears 1918
• Dope, 1919
• The Golden Scorpion, 1919
• Quest of the Sacred Slipper, 1919
• The Dream Detective, 1920 -- ten stories about the psychic detective Morris Klaw -- "The Tragedies in the Greek Room," "The Potsherd of Anubis," "The Crusader's Axe," "The Ivory Statue," "The Blue Rajah," "The Whispering Poplars," "The Chord in G," "The Headless Mummies," "The Haunting of Grange," and "The Veil of Isis." The Dover paperback reprint edition -- ISBN 0486235041 -- does not include "The Chord in G."
• The Green Eyes of Bast, 1920
• The Haunting of Low Fennel, 1920
• Bat Wing, 1921
• Tales of Chinatown, 1922
• Fire Tongue, 1921
• Grey Face, 1924
• Yellow Shadows, 1925
• Moon of Madness, 1927
• She Who Sleeps, 1928
• The Book of Fu Manchu, [Compilation of first 3 Books] 1929
• The Emperor of America 1929
• The Day the World Ended 1930
• The Daughter of Fu Manchu, 1931
• Yu'an Hee See Laughs, 1932
• The Mask of Fu Manchu, 1932
• Tales of East and West (British edition) 1932
• Tales of East and West(American edition) 1933
• Fu Manchu's Bride, 1933 [UK Title: The Bride of Fu Manchu]
• The Trail of Fu Manchu 1934
• The Bat Flies Low, 1935
• President Fu Manchu, 1936
• White Velvet, 1936
• Salute to Bazarada and other stories 1939
• The Drums of Fu Manchu, 1939
• The Island of Fu Manchu, 1941
• Seven Sins 1943
• Egyptian Nights(Bimbashi Barak of Egypt) 1944
• The Shadow of Fu Manchu, 1948
• Hangover House 1949
• The Sins of Sumuru, [US Title: Nude in Mink] 1950
• Wulfheim(written as Michael Furey)later printing as Sax Rohmer 1950
• The Slaves of Sumuru, [US Title: Sumuru] 1951
• Virgin in Flames, [US Title: Fire Goddess] 1953
• Sand and Satin, [US Title: Return of Sumuru] 1954
• The Moon is Red 1954
• Sinister Madonna, 1956
• Re-enter Fu Manchu, 1957 [UK Title: Re-Enter Dr. Fu Manchu]
• Emperor Fu Manchu, 1959
• The Secret of Holm Peel and other Strange Stories 1970
• The Wrath of Fu Manchu, 1973 [published posthumously]
• The Voice of Kali, 2009 [Crippen and Landru]

see also:

• Master of Villainy - biography by Cay Van Ash and Elizabeth Sax Rohmer
• Ten Years Beyond Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Matches Wits With the Diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu by Cay Van Ash 1984 ISBN 978-0060151713
• The Fires of Fu Manchu by Cay Van Ash 1987
• The Terror of Fu Manchu by William Patrick Maynard 2009
• The Destiny of Fu Manchu by William Patrick Maynard [forthcoming]
• The Romance of Sorcery - Rohmer's only non-fiction book, on magick and sorcery.