Charles Samuels (September 15, 1902, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 * ...

– April 27, 1982, in

Cuernavaca, Morelos Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerican civilization. Olmec works of art, currently displa ...

, Mexico) was an American journalist, and writer best known for his biographies of celebrities, He penned as-told-to autobiographies for

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

(''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'') 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 Madison Square Garden (1925), the third incarnation of Madison S ...

'' and ''The King: A Biography of

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

''. Samuels began his career as a sports and feature writer with the

Brooklyn Eagle The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city ...

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'' (also known as ''Confessions of a Counterspy'') is a 1960 American spy thriller directed by Andre de Toth and starring Ernest Borgnine and Kerwin Mathews. It was the last film that DeToth directed in the United States. Plot ...

'' (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 perf ...

. 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 Florence Evelyn Nesbit (December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American model (person), artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her career in New York City, as well as her husband, railroad scion Har ...

, was used in the 1955 movie. He was the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe award (now called the

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 ...

) 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 Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and play ...

and

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainm ...

. He was the New York City Editor of

Paramount News Paramount News was a newsreel series that was 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 acro ...

. He lived mostly 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 ...

and its suburbs Hastings-on-Hudson,

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

, 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. 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 Allan Poe Award, 1956. (about the

Leo Frank Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884August 17, 1915) was an American lynching victim convicted in 1913 of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, an employee in a factory in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was the superintendent. Frank's trial, convicti ...

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'' (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 Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist magazine '' Partisan Review'' for six years. He ...

and a new filmography compiled by

Raymond Rohauer Raymond Rohauer ( 1924 – November 10, 1987) was an American film collector and distributor. Rohauer first started his career by curating films at the Coronet Theatre. In the 1950s, he came to prominence as a distributor and reissuer of Bu ...

, 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 Novelists from New York City 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers Historians from New York (state) American male biographers American expatriates in Mexico Brooklyn Eagle people