Robert Leslie Bellem (July 19, 1902 – April 1, 1968) was an American

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 ...

writer, best known for his creation of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective. Before becoming a writer he worked in Los Angeles as a newspaper reporter, radio announcer and film extra.

Pulps

Bellem wrote in a variety of genres for many pulp magazines, particularly those owned by

Culture Publications Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Ty ...

such as ''Spicy Detective'', ''Spicy Adventure'', ''Spicy Western'' and ''Spicy Mystery'' (one of the weird menace pulps). The word "spicy" in the titles of these magazines was meant to indicate sexual content, although this was very tame compared with current standards. Bellem's most famous creation was the hardboiled

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, whose stories were written in the

first person First person or first-person may refer to: * First person (ethnic), indigenous peoples, usually used in the plural * First person, a grammatical person * First person, a gender-neutral, marital-neutral term for titles such as first lady and first ...

in a racy, slangy style that made them extremely popular. Set against the background of the

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, ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

industry (of which Bellem had personal knowledge), the Dan Turner stories appeared first in the pages of ''Spicy Detective'' (subsequently retitled ''Speed Detective'') and later in his "own" magazine, ''Hollywood Detective'', which ran from January 1942 to October 1950. Bellem also created other characters, such as Nick Ransom who appeared a few times in ''Thrilling Detective'', but none proved as successful as Dan Turner. It is claimed that Bellem produced some 3000 short stories in a pulp magazine career lasting less than 30 years.Bill Pronzini's introduction to the 1987 paperback edition of Bellem's novel ''Blue Murder'', published by Dennins McMillan Publications. He also wrote at least two

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, of which the best known is ''Blue Murder'' (Phoenix Press, 1938). S.J. Perelman's essay "Somewhere a Roscoe..." contains excerpts from several of the Dan Turner stories, with Perelman's satiric comments.

TV career

After the demise of the pulps, Bellem switched to writing for television in the 1950s, including a number of scripts for '' The Lone Ranger'', '' Adventures of Superman'', '' Perry Mason'', '' 77 Sunset Strip'', and others.

References

External links

*
Robert Leslie Bellem bibliographies 1-2
at HARD-BOILED site (Comprehensive Bibliographies by Vladimir Matuschenko) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellem, Robert Leslie 1902 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American male novelists American mystery writers American male screenwriters Pulp fiction writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American screenwriters