Terry Ramsaye was a film historian and author of A Million and One Nights (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1926).

Ramsaye started his professional career as an engineer but switched to journalism when he joined the staff of the Kansas City Star and Times in 1905. In the following decade, he worked on newspapers in Leavenworth, Kansas

Leavenworth, Kansas

Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

, and in Omaha

Omaha

Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...

, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

The motion picture industry was in its infancy when he joined Mutual Film Corporation in 1915. While at Mutual, he produced some Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

 comedies and founded Screen Telegram, which achieved conspicuous success during World War I.

Subsequently he was associated with Samuel Roxy Rothafel

Samuel Roxy Rothafel

Samuel Lionel Rothafel, known as "Roxy" was an American theatrical impressario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s.-Biography:Born in Stillwater, Minnesota, Samuel L. Rothafel was a showman...

 in the management of Broadway's Rialto and Rivoli theaters. He also launched and edited the newsreel Kinograms. After producing and editing numerous adventure films including Grass

Grass (1925 film)

Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life is a silent documentary film which follows a branch of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia as they and their herds make their seasonal journey to better pastures. It is considered one of the earliest ethnographic documentary films. It was written by Richard Carver and...

(1925

1925 in film

-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...

) and Simba: King of the Beasts (1928

1928 in film

-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...

) with explorers Martin and Osa Johnson

Martin and Osa Johnson

Martin Johnson and his wife Osa Johnson were American adventurers and documentary filmmakers.-Biography:...

, he became editor-in-chief of Pathé

Pathé

Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...

 News and Audio Review.

In 1931, Ramsaye joined the Quigley Publishing Company as editor of The Motion Picture Herald, a post he held until 1941. Subsequently, he lectured on motion pictures and contributed articles to various encyclopedias and year books. He continued his association with Quigley as consulting editor and author of a weekly column for the Herald until his death in 1954.