Charles Samuels (September 15, 1902 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York – April 27, 1982 in

Cuernavaca, Morelos Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

, Mexico) was an American journalist, and writer best known for his biographies of celebrities, He penned as-told-to autobiographies for Buster Keaton (''My Wonderful World of Slapstick'') and

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

(''

His Eye is on the Sparrow "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a gospel hymn written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. It is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography. Mahalia Jackson's recordi ...

'') which was a best seller. Among his other books were ''Magnificent Rube: The Life and Gaudy Times of

Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City ...

'' and ''The King: A Biography of

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

''. Samuels began his career as a sports and feature writer with the Brooklyn Eagle in 1923. His book with Boris Morros, ''My Ten Years as a Counterspy'' was made into the film, ''

Man on a String ''Man on a String'' is a 1960 American neo-noir crime film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Ernest Borgnine and Kerwin Mathews. It was the last film that DeToth directed in the United States. Plot A government intelligence agency in Washin ...

'' (1960), starring

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

. The title of another, ''

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing ''The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing'' is a 1955 American film directed by Richard Fleischer from a screenplay by Walter Reisch and Charles Brackett, and starring Joan Collins, Ray Milland, and Farley Granger. The CinemaScope film was released ...

'', about

Evelyn Nesbit Evelyn Nesbit (born Florence Evelyn Nesbit; December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her years as a young woman in New York City, particularly her inv ...

, was used in the 1955 movie. He was the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe award (now called the Edgar Award) in 1957 for ''Night Fell on Georgia'' (written with his wife Louise Samuels). Samuels, who wrote thousands of magazine and newspaper articles, also helped write the newspaper columns of Ben Hecht and Billy Rose. He was the New York City Editor of

Paramount News Paramount News is the name on the newsreels produced by Paramount Pictures from 1927 to 1957. History The Paramount newsreel operation began in 1927 with Emanuel Cohen as an editor. It typically distributed two issues per week to theaters across ...

. He lived mostly in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and its suburbs Hastings-on-Hudson,

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately no ...

and Grand View, New York where he was the director for the Rockland Foundation (now th
Rockland Center for the Arts
and retired in

Cuernavaca, Mexico Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The n ...

. His son Robert C. Samuels was an award-winning journalist and writer and his namesake grandson
Charles Samuels
is a director/photographer.

Works

;Writings by the author *''The Frantic Young Man'' (novel), Coward, 1929. *''A Rather Simple Fellow'' (novel), Coward, 1931. *
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
', Gold Medal, 1953. *''The Girl in the House of Hate (with Louise Samuels), Gold Medal, 1953. *''Death Was the Bridegroom'', Gold Medal, 1953. *''Night Fell on Georgia'' (with Louise Samuels), Dell, Edgar Allen Poe Award, 1956. (about the

Leo Frank Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His trial, conviction, and appeals attracted national at ...

case) *''The Magnificent Rube: The Life and Gaudy Times of Tex Rickard'' (biography), McGraw, 1957. *''The King: The Biography of Clark Gable'', Coward, 1962 (published in England as ''The King of Hollywood: The Story of Clark Gable'', Allen & Unwin, 1962). *''Only One New York : The Unknown Worlds of the Great City'', (photographs by Jan Yoors) Simon & Schuster, 1965. *''Once upon a Stage: The Merry World of Vaudeville'' (with L. Samuels), Dodd, 1974. ;As-told-to biographies *''

His Eye Is on the Sparrow "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a gospel hymn written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. It is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography. Mahalia Jackson's recordi ...

'' (with

), Doubleday, 1951, published with a new preface by

Donald Bogle Donald Bogle is an American film historian and author of six books concerning black history in film and on television. He is an instructor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and at the University of Pennsylvania. Early years Bogle g ...

, Da Capo Press( New York City), 1992. *''Lady on the Beach'' (with Norah Berg), Prentice-Hall, 1952. *''Hockshop'' (with William R. and Florence K. Simpson), Random House, 1954. *''My Ten Years as a Counterspy'' (with Boris Morros), Viking, 1959. *''My Wonderful World of Slapstick'' (with Buster Keaton), Doubleday, 1960, published with a new introduction by Dwight Macdonald and a new filmography compiled by

Raymond Rohauer Raymond Rohauer (1924, Buffalo, New York – November 10, 1987) was an American film collector and distributor. Early life and career Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel ...

, Da Capo Press, 1982. *''How to Catch 5,000 Thieves'' (with Gerard Luisi), Macmillan, 1962.

Quote

Samuels never graduated from high school or lost his Brooklyn accent. "I never wanted to be anything but a writer, have talent for nothing else except fast, furious, and occasionally witty conversation. I wouldn't trade my memories for anyone's," he told an interviewer.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Charles 1902 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from New York City 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Historians from New York (state) American male biographers American expatriates in Mexico