Richard Edward Wormser (February 2, 1908, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

– July, in Tumacaciori,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

) was an American writer of pulp fiction, detective fiction, screenplays, and

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 ...

s, some of it written using the pseudonym of Ed Friend. He is estimated to have written 300 short stories, 200 novelettes, 12 books, many screenplays, and stories turned into screenplays, and a cookbook: ''Southwest Cookery or At Home on the Range''.

Literary accomplishments

After graduating from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

he became a prolific writer of

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

under his own name, the pen name of Conrad Gerson, and wrote seventeen

Nick Carter Nickolas Gene Carter (born January 28, 1980) is an American singer, the lead vocalist of the vocal group Backstreet Boys, and an alleged rapist. As of 2015, he has released three solo albums, '' Now or Never'', '' I'm Taking Off'' and '' All A ...

novels for

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 ...

. Wormser's first

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 ...

novel was ''The Man with the Wax Face'' in 1934. His first Western novel was ''The Lonesome Quarter'' in 1951. Hollywood purchased several of his stories beginning with his ''It's All in the Racket'' filmed as ''Sworn Enemy'' in 1936.

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

signed him for a short term writing contract in 1937. He was fired, then rehired by Columbia and worked for several other studios. Columbia once could not make up its mind between buying two of his stories, ''The Frame Up'' or ''Right Guy''. The studio at last decided on ''Right Guy'' but filmed it under the title of '' The Frame-Up''. During World War II he served as a forest ranger. Wormser won Western Spur Awards for juvenile fiction for ''Ride a Northbound Horse'' in 1964, and for ''The Black Mustanger'' in 1971. He also won an

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 ...

for Best Paperback Original Novel for ''The Invader'' in 1973.

Novels

* ''The Man With the Wax Face'', 1934 * ''The Communist’s Corpse'', 1935 * ''All's Fair'', 1937 * ''The Hanging Heiress'', 1949 * ''The Lonesome Quarter'', 1952 (western) * ''The Longhorn Trail,'' 1955 (western) * ''The Body Looks Familiar'', 1958 * ''Slattery's Range'', 1959 (western) * ''The Late Mrs Five'', 1960 * ''Drive East On 66'', 1961 * ''Battalion of Saints'', 1961 (western) * ''Perfect Pigeon'', 1962 * ''Three-Cornered War'', 1962 (western) * ''A Nice Girl Like You'', 1963 * ''Pan Satyrus'', 1963 * ''Ride a Northbound Horse'', 1964 (western) * '' The Green Hornet: The Infernal Light'', 1966 (as Ed Friend) * ''

The Most Deadly Game ''The Most Deadly Game'' is an American television series that ran for 12 episodes from 1970 to 1971. The series was produced by Aaron Spelling Productions, with Aaron Spelling as the executive producer. It stars Yvette Mimieux, Ralph Bellamy ...

#1: The Corpse in the Castle'', 1970 (as Ed Friend) * ''The Ranch by the Sea'', 1970 * ''Black Mustanger'', 1971 (western) * ''The Takeover'', 1971 * ''The Invader'', 1972

Movie and TV tie-ins

Wormser authored a number of screenplay

novelizations A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

: *'' Thief of Baghdad'', 1961 *''

The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah ''Sodom and Gomorrah'' (also known as ''The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah'' in the United States) is a 1962 epic biblical film directed by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by Hugo Butler and Giorgio Prosperi, loosely based on the Biblical r ...

'', 1962 *''

McLintock! :''See also McClintock (disambiguation)'' ''McLintock!'' is a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The film co-stars Wayne's son Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Jack Kr ...

'', 1963 *''

Bedtime Story A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockm ...

'', 1964 *''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German V-weapons, long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The primary V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, which were launched agai ...

'', 1965 *'' Major Dundee'', 1965 *''

Alvarez Kelly ''Alvarez Kelly'' is a 1966 American Western film set in the American Civil War directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring William Holden and Richard Widmark. The picture was based on the historic Beefsteak Raid of September 1864 led by Confederat ...

'', 1966 *'' Torn Curtain'', 1966 *''

The Scalphunters ''The Scalphunters'' is a 1968 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Telly Savalas. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, with the score written by Elmer Bernstein. Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Su ...

'', 1968 and four novels based on TV series,
three as "Ed Friend": *''

The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell (director), James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas i ...

: The Infernal Light'', 1967, adaptation (Dell) *''

The High Chaparral ''The High Chaparral'' is an American Western action-adventure drama television series that aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971, starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in association with NBC Produc ...

: Coyote Gold'', 1969, original (Tempo) *''

: The Corpse in the Castle'', 1970, original (Lancer) and one as Richard Wormser: *''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western (genre), Western, spy film, spy, and science fiction on television, science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 19 ...

'', 1966, adaptation (Signet)

Notes

References

* Wormser, Richard, & Ira Skutch, ''How to Become a Complete Non-Entity: A Memoir'', iUniverse, 2006

External links

* *Magazine stories http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/s2396.htm#A92195 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wormser, Richard 1908 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American novelists Pulp fiction writers American male screenwriters American male novelists 20th-century American memoirists Western (genre) writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American screenwriters