Robert Arthur Jr. (November 10, 1909 – May 2, 1969) was an American writer and editor of

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

and

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

known for his work with '' The Mysterious Traveler'' radio series and for writing ''

The Three Investigators The Three Investigators is an American Children's literature, juvenile detective book series first published as "''Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators''". It was created by Robert Arthur Jr., who believed involving a famous person such a ...

'', a series of young adult novels. For his radio work, Arthur—together with writing partner David Kogan—was honored with three

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

s by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

.Tranter, Don (April 30, 1951
"Don Tranter's Comment on RADIO—TV"
''Buffalo Courier Express''. p. 16. Retrieved November 16, 2023. See also:
"Writers Hail Mystery Shows"
''Detroit Free Press''. May 23, 1951. p. 10.
"Air Checks; Production Notes and Personal Intelligence,"
''Billboard'' (May 5, 1951), p. 6. "Mystery Writers of America have cited two Mutual network mystery dramas and their producer-directors for 'outstanding achievement.' Shows are 'Murder by Experts' and 'Mysterious Traveler,' both produced and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan."
"Behind the Mike "
''The Brewton Standard''. May 3, 1951. p. 12. He also adapted at least one story, and had several of his own adapted by others, for Alfred Hitchcock's TV show, ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

''.

Early life and eduction

Arthur was born on November 10, 1909, in

Fort Mills Fort Mills ( Corregidor, the Philippines) was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays in early World War II, and was the largest seacoast for ...

Corregidor Island Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

while his father, Robert Arthur Sr., was stationed there as a lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Arthur spent his childhood moving from place to place, wherever his father was stationed. Although he was accepted to

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

Arthur decided not to pursue a military career like his father and instead in 1926 enrolled at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

. After two years, he transferred to the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he graduated from with a B.A. in English in 1930. He worked as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and returned to the University of Michigan and received his M.A. in

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

in 1932.

Career

Writing for fiction magazines and TV

His stories were published in, among other magazines, ''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Bouche ...

'', ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

'', ''Mercury Mystery'', ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'', '' Argosy All-Story Weekly'', '' Black Mask'', ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

,'' ''Detective Fiction Weekly'', ''Detective Tales'', ''Double Detective'', ''The Illustrated Detective Magazine'', '' The Phantom Detective'', ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

s Detective Story Magazine, ''Thrilling Detective'', '' Unknown Worlds'' and ''

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 Sto ...

''. Additionally, Arthur wrote a number of mystery novels for children and young adults. His most successful stories were a series of mystery books called ''The Three Investigators''. In 1959, he moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and began writing and editing screenplays and scripts for television shows.

Radio

Arthur, along with his writing partner David Kogan, was honored three times by the

with

s for his radio work: twice for "best radio drama"—in 1950 for ''Murder by Experts'' and 1953 for '' The Mysterious Traveler''—and once, regarding his work on both of the aforementioned shows, in 1951 for "outstanding achievement in producing, directing and writing radio mystery shows." Other radio credits include: ''Dark Destiny'' (1942), ''Adventure Into Fear'' (1945), ''The Sealed Book'' (1945), ''The Teller of Tales'' (1950) and ''Mystery Time'' (1952). Arthur died at the age of fifty-nine in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, on May 2, 1969, and was interred at

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is in size, and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in nearby Philadelphia. ...

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community and census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania and borders the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Rou ...

, Pennsylvania.

Bibliography

"Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" novels

* 1: '' The Secret of Terror Castle'' (1964) * 2: '' The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot'' (1964) * 3: '' The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy'' (1965) * 4: ''The Mystery of the Green Ghost'' (1965) * 5: '' The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure'' (1966) * 6: ''The Secret of Skeleton Island'' (1966) * 7: '' The Mystery of the Fiery Eye'' (1967) * 8: '' The Mystery of the Silver Spider'' (1967) * 9: '' The Mystery of the Screaming Clock'' (1968) * 11: ''The Mystery of the Talking Skull'' (1969) Three Investigator novels numbered 10 and 12 to 43 were written by other authors.

Short story collections by Robert Arthur Jr.

* ''Ghosts and More Ghosts'' (1963) * ''Mystery and More Mystery'' (1966) * ''The Midnight Visitor''

Short story collections edited by Robert Arthur Jr.

* ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories for Late at Night'' (1961) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful'' (1961) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery'' (1962) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself-Mysteries'' (1963) (All stories written by Robert Arthur with the exception of "''The Mystery of the Sinister Theft''") * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories That My Mother Never Told Me'' (1963) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum'' (1965) * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories Not for the Nervous'' (1965) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Sinister Spies'' (1966) * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories That Scared Even Me'' (1967) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbinders in Suspense'' (1967) * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV'' (1968) * ''Davy Jones Haunted Locker'' (1965) * ''Spies and More Spies'' (1967) * ''Thrillers and More Thrillers'' (1968) * ''Monster Mix'' (1968) * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Daring Detectives'' (1969)

Television writing credits

* '' The Unforeseen'' (1960) * ''

Matinee Theatre ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ...

'' (1955) (episode: "The Babylonian Heart") * ''

'' (episode: "The Jokester") * '' Thriller'' (1961–1962) (episodes: "An Attractive Family", "Dialogues with Death", "The Prisoner in the Mirror")

References

External links

Biography by daughter Elizabeth Arthur

at

series fansite * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Robert Jr. 1909 births 1969 deaths * 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American short story writers American fantasy writers American horror writers American male novelists American male screenwriters American male short story writers American mystery writers Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery Edgar Award winners Hampton High School (Virginia) alumni Novelists from Philadelphia Screenwriters from Philadelphia Three Investigators University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni