Oscar Jerome Friend (January 8, 1897 – January 19, 1963) began his career primarily as a

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 ...

writer in various genres including horror,

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 ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, and detective fiction. As a pulp writer he worked with ''

Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

'', ''

Startling Stories ''Startling Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', S ...

'', ''

Strange Stories ''Strange Stories'' was a pulp magazine which ran for thirteen issues from 1939 to 1941. It was edited by Mort Weisinger, who was not credited. Contributors included Robert Bloch, Eric Frank Russell, C. L. Moore, August Derleth, and ...

'', ''

Captain Future Captain Future is a pulp science fiction hero — a space-traveling scientist and adventurer —originally published in his namesake pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The character was created by editors Mort Weisinger and Leo Margulies. The maj ...

'' and ''

Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

''. As his career progressed, Oscar Friend authored many novels, which were published worldwide. Friend wrote

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s, worked as an editor on

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...

, and was co-editor on several

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

. Finally, he took the helm of a

literary agency A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

Biography

Oscar Jerome Friend was born on January 8, 1897, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, to Jinnie L. and Joseph Friend. He married Irene Ozment in 1917. Oscar Friend moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the request of

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, and worked for some time as a

scriptwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

for films at

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

before returning to

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 * '' ...

. He died in January 1963.

Legacy

Upon the death of his friend and literary agent, Otis Kline, Oscar Friend acquired ownership of his company, Otis Kline Associates. Friend, with the partnership of his wife Irene Ozment Friend, became one of the foremost international science fiction and fantasy agents of the 1950s and 1960s. Oscar Friend's clients included

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

, Robert E. Howard,

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...

, and

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

Novels

Friend's thrillers were written under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Owen Fox Jerome. He also used the pen names Ford Smith & Frank Johnson for his science fiction novels, and the pseudonym Sergeant Saturn as editor.

Science Fiction

* ''The Kid From Mars'' (1948)

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

approached Oscar J. Friend just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, planning to make this novel into a musical with

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

, but the film plans fell through due to a change in Kaye's retirement plans. The film rights to the book were again optioned by Disney in the 1990s. * ''Of Jovian Build'' (1938) * ''The Worms Turn'' (1940) * ''The Stolen Spectrum'' (1940s) * ''The Water World'' (1941) * ''The Molecule Monsters'' (1942, 1950) * ''Roar of the Rocket'' (1950) * ''The Star Men'' (1953)

Westerns

* ''Click of Triangle T'' (1925) published first as a novel, then produced as a film by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, starring

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitione ...

* ''The Round Up'' (1924) * ''The Bullet Eater'' (1925) * ''The Wolf of Wildcat Mountain'' (1926) * ''Gun Harvest'' (1927, republished 1948) * ''Bloody Ground'' (1928) * ''The Mississippi Hawk'' (1929) * ''The Hawk of Hazard'' (1929) * ''The Maverick'' (1930) * ''Half Moon Ranch'' (1931) * ''The Range Maverick'' (1934) * ''Without Benefit of Bullets'' (1941) * ''The Wedding Gift'' (1943) * ''Oklahoma Gun Song'' (1944) * ''Love's Gun Doctor'' (1944) * ''Gun Trail to Glory'' (1940s) * ''Betty of the Lazy W'' (1940s) * ''The Range Doctor'' (1948) * ''Guns of Powder River'' (first published under this title in the UK in 1950) epublished in 1963 in the US as ''Action at Powder River'' under the pen name Ford Smith* ''The Last Raid'' (1952) * ''Lobo Brand'' (1954)

Thrillers

* ''The Hand Of Horror'' (1927) * ''The Red Kite Clue'' (1928) * ''Domes of Silence'' (1929) * ''The Golf Course Murders'' (1929) published in the U.S. and the U.K. * ''The Murder at Avalon Arms'' (1931) published in the U.S. and the U.K. * ''The Cat and the Fiddle'' (19__) * ''Murder - As Usual'' (1942) * ''Shadow Justice'' (1942) * ''The Corpse Awaits'' (1946) * ''Death Script'' (19__) * ''A Night at Club Bagdad'' (1950) * ''Double Life'' (1959) * ''The Five Assassins'' (1958) * ''Leave Everything to Me'' (1959)

Anthologies co-edited by Oscar J. Friend

*''From Off This World'' (1949) with

Leo Margulies Leo Margulies (June 22, 1900 – December 26, 1975) was an American editor and publisher of science fiction and fantasy pulp magazines and paperback books. Biography Margulies was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, but was raised in ...

*''My Best Science Fiction Story'' (1949) with Leo Margulies *''Giant Anthology of SF'' (1954) with Leo Margulies *''Giant Anthology of Science Fiction'' (1954) with Leo Margulies *''Race to the Stars'' (1958) with Leo Margulies

References

*''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'', page 454.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Oscar 1897 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers American speculative fiction editors Pulp fiction writers Science fiction editors Western (genre) writers