William Edward Daniel “W. E. D.” Ross (November 16, 1912 – November 1, 1995) was a Canadian actor, playwright and bestselling writer of more than 300 novels in a variety of genres. He was known for the speed of his writing and was by some estimates the most prolific Canadian author ever, though he did not take up fiction until middle age.
He wrote popular romances and Gothic fiction as W. E. D. Ross and Dan Ross and under a variety of mostly female pseudonyms such as Jane Rossiter, Leslie Ames, Ellen Randolph, Ann Gilmer, Rose Williams, Rose Dana, Clarissa Ross, Marilyn Ross, Jan Daniels, Charlotte McCormack, Ruth Dorset, Miriam Leslie, Dana Ross, Laura Frances Brooks, Lydia Colby, Diana Randall, Diana Ross, and Marilyn Carter.[1] He started writing erotic novels as Olin Ross, and Western novels as Dan Roberts and Tex Steele. As Marilyn Ross he wrote popular Gothic fiction including a Series of novels about the vampire Barnabas Collins based on the American TV series Dark Shadows (1966–71).