Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

-type

crime novel 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, ...

s. The novels have been written by many different writers in

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

countries and in Finland over the course of several decades.

Overview

The novels center around the adventures of

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

agent Jerry Cotton, which take place in and around New York City. In 1954 the first novel appeared as no. 68: "Ich suchte den Gangster-Chef" (''I Sought the Gang Boss'') in the series "Bastei Kriminalroman". The pseudonym "Jerry Cotton" was developed in 1956 and the first novella with this name on the front page appeared with the title "Ich jagte den Diamanten-Hai" (''I hunted the Diamond Shark''). In 2014 the series reached the 3000th edition, "Goodbye New York!". Total circulation, about 930 million. In Finnish versions of Jerry Cotton, he is said to have been born and raised on a farm in Harpersville, Connecticut. There is also some reference to his father having been a blacksmith or Jerry himself having been a blacksmith's apprentice before joining the police academy. A group of over 100 authors write for the magazines, sold in many kiosks and over newsagents.

Rolf Kalmuczak Rolf Kalmuczak (17 April 1938 in Nordhausen – 10 March 2007 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen) was a German author. He was an editor of daily papers, freelance contributor at ''Stern'', lector and one of the authors of the Jerry Cotton series. Since 1966 ...

, who is the major author behind this name, made the

TKKG The Junior detective series TKKG is a German series of audio dramas and novels created by "Stefan Wolf", a pseudonym used by Rolf Kalmuczak. The characters and their creator In all German-speaking countries they are the most commercially succe ...

series famous as ''Stefan Wolf''. One could summarise the motto of the series as ''"Crime without Sex"'', as women arise as characters only once in a while. Important figures of the series include, besides Cotton, his partner ''

Phil Decker Phil Decker is a fictional character in Heinz Werner Höber's ''Jerry Cotton'' novels. He is Cotton's sidekick and a fellow FBI agent. Subsequently, he appeared in the films ''Manhattan Night of Murder'' (1965), '' Tread Softly'' (1965) and six o ...

'', FBI-chief ''John D. High'', veteran agent Neville, Annie Geraldo, Zeerookah, June Clark, Roby O'Hara, Myrna, Windermeere and his

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

, a 38 Caliber Smith & Wesson Special. Jerry Cotton drives a red

Jaguar E-type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...

, built in 1966. Even though some people regard Jerry Cotton novels as trivial literature, the

agent has a faithful fan community (just like his equally long-lived science-fiction counterpart, ''

Perry Rhodan ''Perry Rhodan'' is a West Germany, West German/Germany, German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billi ...

''). Several Jerry Cotton novels were adapted as

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

s. One of the few official FBI pages in German states that Jerry Cotton indeed is a fictional agent and therefore it doesn't make sense to write fan-letters to him.

Authors

Prominent authors who admit cooperation with the Jerry Cotton series include: *

Heinz Werner Höber Heinz Werner Höber (1931 in Bärenstein – 15 May 1996) was a very prolific pulp fiction author who produced many novels about the fictitious FBI-agent Jerry Cotton and eventually sued his publisher because he felt he had been entitled to receive ...

Thomas Jeier Thomas Jeier (born 24 April 1947 in Minden) was raised in Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as ...

(= Christopher Ross) *

(= Stefan Wolf, "

") * Walter Appel *

Martin Barkawitz Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

* Horst Friedrichs * Friedrich Jankuba * Jorg Layes *

Helmut Rellergert Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may refer ...

Jason Dark Jason Dark is the 'nom de plume' of Helmut Rellergerd, a prolific author of horror detective fiction in the German language. His work has been favourably compared to that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Helmut Rellergerd Helmut Rellergerd (born Jan ...

, " Geisterjäger John Sinclair") *

Friedrich Tenkrat Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...

Manfred Weinland ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. B ...

Jerry Cotton films

Starting in the 1960s, a series of eight films based on the Cotton novels were made, the first four in black-and-white, the last four in color. The character of Jerry Cotton was played by American actor

George Nader George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...

, and his companion Phil Decker was played by the German actor

Heinz Weiß Heinz Weiss (12 June 192120 November 2010) was a German film actor. Weiss is best known for playing the role of Phil Decker in the Jerry Cotton series of films and the role of Captain Heinz Hansen in ''Das Traumschiff''. He also played the chara ...

. The director of the films was

Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Walla ...

. The film's music was composed by Peter Thomas including the "Jerry Cotton March", that also was released on a soundtrack-single. In the 1990s the soundtracks of the movies were re-released on CDs. The bracketed links refer to the pages at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. * ''Mordnacht in Manhattan'' / ''

Manhattan Night of Murder ''Manhattan Night of Murder'' (german: Mordnacht in Manhattan) is a 1965 German thriller film directed by Harald Philipp and starring George Nader, Heinz Weiss and Monika Grimm. It was the second of the Jerry Cotton series of films, depicting t ...

'' (1965) (b/w) * '' Schüsse aus dem Geigengasten'' (1965) (b/w) * ''

Die Rechnung – eiskalt serviert ''Die Rechnung – eiskalt serviert'' (English title: ''Tip Not Included'') is a 1966 German thriller film directed by Helmut Ashley and starring George Nader, Yvonne Monlaur, and Heinz Weiss. It was the fourth film in the Jerry Cotton Jerry ...

'' (1966) (b/w) * ''

The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight ''The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight'' (german: Um Null Uhr schnappt die Falle zu) is a 1966 West German thriller film directed by Harald Philipp and starring George Nader, Horst Frank and Heinz Weiss. It was the fourth film in the Jerry Cotton ser ...

'' (1966) (b/w) * '' Der Mörderclub von Brooklyn'' (1967) * '' Tod im Roten Jaguar'' (1968) * '' Dynamit in grüner Seide'' (1968) * '' Todesschüsse am Broadway'' (1969)Todesschüsse am Broadway (1969)
/ref> In 2007

Constantin Film The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...

AG and

Rat Pack Filmproduktion Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH is a German film production company owned by Constantin Film. History Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH was founded by Christian Becker with Anita Schneider, Jürgen Egger, Alexander Rümelin, Catarina Raacke and Constanti ...

released a new German feature film titled ''

Jerry Cotton Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of pulp magazine-type crime novels. The novels have been written by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland over the course of several decades. Overview The novel ...

'', directed by Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert, starring

Christian Tramitz Christian Tramitz (born 29 July 1955) is a German actor and comedian. Early life Born in Munich, Bavaria, Tramitz is the grandson of Austrian actor Paul Hörbiger and first cousin once removed of actress Christiane Hörbiger. His parents are ...

as the protagonist, Christian Ulmen (as Phil Decker),

Mónica Cruz Mónica Cruz Sánchez (born 16 March 1977) is a Spanish actress and dancer. She is the younger sister of actress Penélope Cruz. She has appeared in the films ''The Inquiry'' (2006), ''Last Hour'' (2008), ''Jerry Cotton'' (2010) and ''Iron Cro ...

as the leading lady and

Christiane Paul Christiane Paul (; born 8 March 1974 in Berlin-Pankow) is a German film, television and stage actress. Paul first worked as a model for magazines such as '' Bravo''. She was 17 when she obtained her first leading role in the film '. Prior to h ...

Heino Ferch Heino Ferch (born 18 August 1963) is a German film, theatre and television actor. His notable film roles include Albert Speer in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004) and Harry Melchior in The Tunnel (2001 film), ''The Tunnel'' (2001). Biogr ...

and

Moritz Bleibtreu Moritz Johann Bleibtreu (; was born in Munich, Germany on August 13, 1971. He has worked over the years as a film actor, voice actor, and film director. Bleibtreu has been a successful actor in many movies such as '' Run Lola Run, Das Experimen ...

as their counterparts. The film met general expectations by gaining a lot of new attention for Jerry Cotton and the classic series of novels of the same name.

References

External links

Bastei publishing house
with detailed Jerry Cotton pages (German)

"Jerry Cotton investigating" (German)
cotton forum.de/InterNet Site of the Jerry Cotton forum
(German)
Jerry Cotton-soundtracks
(English)
Official Site from the Movie "Jerry Cotton"
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Jerry Book series introduced in 1954 Literary characters introduced in 1954 Film series introduced in 1965 Characters in German novels of the 20th century Characters in crime novel series German film series Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel Fictional characters from New York City House names

Overview

Authors

Jerry Cotton films

See also

References

External links