Harold Norling Swanson (August 28, 1899 – May 31, 1991) was a literary agent who represented Frank Buck,

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

and many other well-known American writers. He was a member of the Cliff Dwellers Club and was one of the founding members of the Tavern Club in Chicago.

Career

Swanson graduated from

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

, class of 1922. He began his career as a writer
Corn; moods from Mid-America, by Harold Norling Swanson.
but achieved more success as the editor, for eight years during the 1920s, of '' College Humor'', a Chicago-based monthly magazine. In 1931, he moved to Hollywood, where he received a few minor story credits and then spent a period as an associate producer at

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

, with eight films to his credit, including two

Wheeler and Woolsey Wheeler & Woolsey were an American vaudeville comedy double act who performed together in comedy films from the late 1920s. The team comprised Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of New Jersey and Robert Woolsey (1888–1938) of Illinois. Collaboration ...

comedies, ''

Hips, Hips, Hooray! ''Hips, Hips, Hooray!'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code slapstick comedy starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Ruth Etting, Thelma Todd, and Dorothy Lee. During its initial theatrical run, it was preceded by the two-color Technicolor short ''Not ...

'' and ''Kentucky Kernels''. In 1934, Swanson opened his eponymous agency on Sunset Boulevard. He began representing adventurer-writer Frank Buck in 1935, soon after Buck's appearance in ''

Fang and Claw ''Fang and Claw'' is a 1935 jungle adventure documentary starring Frank Buck. Buck continues his demonstration of the ingenious methods by which he traps wild birds, mammals and reptiles in Johore Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a s ...

'', the documentary film based on his book of the same name. Swanson's efforts led to Buck's first appearance in a dramatic role, in the 15-chapter serial ''

Jungle Menace ''Jungle Menace'' (1937) is the first serial released by Columbia Pictures. Based on the success of Republic Pictures's 1936 serial '' Darkest Africa'', starring real-life animal trainer Clyde Beatty, Columbia made this exotic jungle serial ...

'', released by Columbia Pictures in 1937. The Swanson Agency was unique at that time in its exclusive focus on the sale of motion picture (and later television and radio) rights to literary properties, as well as representation of the writers (including screenwriters) themselves. His dominance in this area is illustrated by the fact that by 1939 his client list reportedly included 80 of the 110 writers then working for

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. At one time or another, he represented

, James M. Cain,

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

Ernest Haycox Ernest James Haycox (October 1, 1899 – October 13, 1950) was an American writer of Western fiction. Biography Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1, 1899.Corning, Howard M. (1 ...

, Katharine Brush,

Frank Gruber Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer. He was a writer of stories for pulp fiction magazines. He also wrote dozens of novels, mostly Westerns and detect ...

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

, Charles Bennett,

MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...

, Kenneth Millar ( Ross Macdonald),

Pearl Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buc ...

, Raymond Chandler, Steve Fisher, Elmore Leonard, John O'Hara, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Theroux, Joseph Wambaugh,

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Beve ...

and

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...

. Among the many books he sold to the Hollywood studios were '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'', ''

The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...

'', ''

Old Yeller ''Old Yeller'' is a 1956 children's literature, children's novel written by Fred Gipson and illustrated by Carl Burger. It received a Newbery Medal, Newbery Honor in 1957. The title is taken from the name of the yellow dog who is the center of t ...

'', ''

Butterfield 8 ''BUtterfield 8'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same na ...

'' and '' The Mosquito Coast''.

Final years

Swanson published an autobiography, ''Sprinkled with Ruby Dust'', in 1989.Swanson, H.N. ''Sprinkled with Ruby Dust''. Warner Books; 1st Edition, December 1989 He worked in his agency until shortly before his death from a stroke. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

References

External links

"H.N. Swanson, the Agent Who Made Gatsby 'Great,' Is a Past Master of the Hollywood Deal"
''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'', January 8, 1990
Obituary
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 3, 1991 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, H. N. 1899 births 1991 deaths Literary agents People from Centerville, Iowa American male screenwriters American magazine editors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Iowa Film producers from Iowa 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters