Richard Edward Wormser (February 2, 1908 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

– July, in Tumacaciori,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

) was an American writer of pulp fiction, detective fiction, screenplays, and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

s, some of it written using the pseudonym of Ed Friend. He is estimated to have written 300 short stories, 200 novelettes, 12 books, many screenplays and stories turned into screenplays, and a cookbook: ''Southwest Cookery or At Home on the Range''.

Literary accomplishments

After graduating from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

he became a prolific writer of

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

under his own name, the pen name of Conrad Gerson, and wrote seventeen Nick Carter novels for

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

. Wormser's first

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novel was ''The Man with the Wax Face'' in 1934. His first Western novel was ''The Lonesome Quarter'' in 1951. Hollywood purchased several of his stories beginning with his ''It's All in the Racket'' filmed as ''Sworn Enemy'' in 1936.

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

signed him for a short term writing contract in 1937. He was fired, then rehired by Columbia and worked for several other studios. Columbia once could not make up its mind between buying two of his stories, ''The Frame Up'' or ''Right Guy''. The studio at last decided on ''Right Guy'' but filmed it under the title of ''

The Frame-Up ''The Frame-Up'' is a 1937 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. Cast * Paul Kelly as Mark MacArthur * Julie Bishop as Betty Lindale (as Jacqueline Wells) * George McKay as Joe Lavery * Robert Emmett O'Connor as Larry Mann aka J ...

''. During World War II he served as a forest ranger. Wormser won Western

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

s for juvenile fiction for ''Ride a Northbound Horse'' in 1964, and for ''The Black Mustanger'' in 1971. He also won an

Edgar award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for best original paperback novel for ''The Invader'' in 1973.

Novels

* ''The Man With the Wax Face'', 1934 * ''The Communist’s Corpse'', 1935 * ''All's Fair'', 1937 * ''The Hanging Heiress'', 1949 * ''The Lonesome Quarter'', 1952 (western) * ''The Longhorn Trail,'' 1955 (western) * ''The Body Looks Familiar'', 1958 * ''Slattery's Range'', 1959 (western) * ''The Late Mrs Five'', 1960 * ''Drive East On 66'', 1961 * ''Battalion of Saints'', 1961 (western) * ''Perfect Pigeon'', 1962 * ''Three-Cornered War'', 1962 (western) * ''A Nice Girl Like You'', 1963 * ''Pan Satyrus'', 1963 * ''Ride a Northbound Horse'', 1964 (western) * '' The Green Hornet: The Infernal Light'', 1966 (as Ed Friend) * ''

The Most Deadly Game ''The Most Deadly Game'' is an American television series that ran for 12 episodes from 1970 to 1971. The series was produced by Aaron Spelling Productions, with Aaron Spelling as the executive producer. It stars Yvette Mimieux, Ralph Bellamy, ...

#1: The Corpse in the Castle'', 1970 (as Ed Friend) * ''The Ranch by the Sea'', 1970 * ''Black Mustanger'', 1971 (western) * ''The Takeover'', 1971 * ''The Invader'', 1972

Movie and TV tie-ins

Wormser authored a number of screenplay

novelizations A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative work, derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, Play (theatre), stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particula ...

: *'' Thief of Baghdad'', 1961 *''

The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah ''Sodom and Gomorrah'' – known in the United States as ''The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah'' – is a DeLuxe Color 1962 epic film which is loosely based on the Biblical reading of Sodom and Gomorrah. The film was a Franco-Italian-American c ...

'', 1962 *''

McLintock! :''See also McClintock (disambiguation)'' ''McLintock!'' is a 1963 American Western (genre), Western comedy film, comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The film co-stars Wayne's son Patrick Wayne, ...

'', 1963 *''

Bedtime Story A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockma ...

'', 1964 *''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German V-weapons, long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched aga ...

'', 1965 *''

Major Dundee ''Major Dundee'' is a 1965 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, and James Coburn. Written by Harry Julian Fink, the film is about a Union cavalry officer who leads a contentiou ...

'', 1965 *''

Alvarez Kelly ''Alvarez Kelly'' is a 1966 American Western (genre), Western film set in the American Civil War directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring William Holden and Richard Widmark. The picture was based on the historic Beefsteak Raid of September 1864 ...

'', 1966 *''

Torn Curtain ''Torn Curtain'' is a 1966 American Political thriller, political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. Written by Brian Moore (novelist), Brian Moore, the film is set in the Cold War. It is about ...

'', 1966 *''

The Scalphunters ''The Scalphunters'' is a 1968 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Telly Savalas. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, with the score written by Elmer Bernstein. Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Su ...

'', 1968 and four novels based on TV series,
three as "Ed Friend": *''

The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media ...

The Infernal Light ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', 1967, adaptation (Dell) *''

The High Chaparral ''The High Chaparral'' television series, which was broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971, is an American Western action adventure drama set in the 1870s. It stars Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in ...

Coyote Gold The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

'', 1969, original (Tempo) *''

: The Corpse in the Castle'', 1970, original (Lancer) and one as Richard Wormser: *''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...

'', 1966, adaptation (Signet)

Notes

References

* Wormser, Richard, & Ira Skutch, ''How to Become a Complete Non-Entity: A Memoir'', iUniverse, 2006

External links

* *Magazine stories http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/s2396.htm#A92195 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wormser, Richard 1908 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American novelists Pulp fiction writers American male screenwriters American male novelists 20th-century American memoirists Western (genre) writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American screenwriters