Eric Taylor (June 17, 1897 – September 8, 1952) was an American screenwriter with over fifty titles to his credit. He began writing

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 ...

for the pulps before working in Hollywood. He contributed scripts to

The Crime Club ''The Crime Club'' was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series, and a 1937-1939 film series. Literature Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their f ...

, Crime Doctor,

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...

, and

The Whistler Whistler may refer to: * Someone who whistles Places Canada * Whistler, British Columbia, a resort town ** Whistler railway station ** Whistler Secondary School * Whistler Blackcomb, a ski resort in British Columbia * Whistler Mountain, Bri ...

series, as well as six Universal monster movies.

Career

Taylor wrote for various pulp magazines in the 1920s and 30s, including '' Black Mask'', ''Clues'', and ''Dime Detective''. He published seven stories with ''Black Mask'': "Jungle Justice" (1928), "The Murder Rap" (1928), "Boulevard Louis" (1928), "A Pinch of Snuff" (1929), "Red Death" (1935), "Murder to Music" (1936), and "The Calloused Hand" (1936). In 1936, Taylor began writing for newly-formed

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

. Over the next three years he received a credit on six Republic movies and one with

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

. Beginning in 1939, Taylor began working with producers

Larry Darmour Lawrence J. Darmour (1895–1942) was an American film producer, operator of Larry Darmour Productions from 1926, and a significant figure in Hollywood's low-budget production community. Career Darmour was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. Aft ...

and

Rudolph Flothow Rudolph C. Flothow (November 23, 1895 - December 21, 1971) was a movie and television producer active from 1915 through the mid-1950s, producing more than 45 films and over 80 television episodes. Most of his productions were crime films for Co ...

. Taylor's first assignments under Darmour and Flothow were a number of action-adventure movies starring Jack Holt. From 1940 to 1942, Taylor contributed to eight Ellery Queen movies for

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 ...

. In 1942, Columbia replaced Ellery Queen with two other mystery series, both based on radio programs: ''The Crime Doctor'' and ''The Whistler''. Taylor wrote on six Crime Doctor and two Whistler movies. From 1941 to 1946, Taylor also contributed to six Universal monster movies, including entries in the Frankenstein and Dracula series. He wrote two Dick Tracy movies for RKO Pictures in 1945 and 1947. In the 1950s he returned to Republic Pictures where he wrote six more movies, five of which were Westerns.Eric Taylor (I) (1897-1952)
IMDb, retrieved July 27, 2018. In the early 1950s Taylor prolifically wrote many episodes for the American television series ''The Roy Rogers Show'', ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'' and ''Ramar of the Jungle''.

Personal life

Little is known of Taylor's personal life. He was born in Chicago in 1897 and died in 1952 in San Francisco of a heart attack while on vacation with his wife.

Works

*1953 ''White Goddess (film), White Goddess'' (episodes of ''Ramar of the Jungle'' edited into a feature film) *1952 ''Big Jim McLain'' *1952 ''Colorado Sundown'' *1951 ''Pals of the Golden West'' *1951 ''South of Caliente'' *1951 ''Heart of the Rockies (1951 film), Heart of the Rockies'' *1950 ''North of the Great Divide'' *1950 ''Destination Big House'' *1949 ''Prison Warden (film), Prison Warden'' *1949 ''The Devil's Henchman'' *1949 ''The Secret of St. Ives'' *1947 ''Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome'' *1946 ''Crime Doctor's Man Hunt'' *1946 ''The Lie Detector'' *1946 ''Mysterious Intruder'' *1946 ''The Spider Woman Strikes Back'' *1946 ''Just Before Dawn (1946 film), Just Before Dawn'' *1945 ''Splitface'' *1945 ''Doctor's Warning'' *1945 ''The Doctor's Courage'' *1944 ''Shadows in the Night (1944 film), Shadows in the Night'' *1944 ''

'' *1943 ''Strangest Case'' *1943 ''Son of Dracula (1943 film), Son of Dracula'' *1943 ''Phantom of the Opera (1943 film), Phantom of the Opera'' *1943 ''No Place for a Lady'' *1942 ''The Lido Mystery'' *1942 ''A Desperate Chance (1942 film), A Desperate Chance'' *1942 ''The Ghost of Frankenstein'' *1942 ''A Close Call'' *1941 ''The Murder Ring'' *1941 ''The Perfect Crime (1941 film), The Perfect Crime'' *1941 ''The Black Cat (1941 film), The Black Cat'' *1941 ''The Great Swindle (1941 film), The Great Swindle'' *1941 ''Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery'' *1940 ''Ellery Queen, Master Detective'' *1940 ''Mutiny of the Seas'' *1940 ''Black Friday (1940 film), Black Friday'' *1939 ''Fugitive at Large'' *1939 ''Trapped in the Sky (film), Trapped in the Sky'' *1938 ''Orphans of the Street'' *1938 ''His Exciting Night'' *1938 ''Romance on the Run'' *1938 ''The Case of the Missing Blonde'' *1937 ''The Wrong Road'' *1937 ''Jim Hanvey, Detective'' *1937 ''Navy Blues (1937 film), Navy Blues'' *1936 ''Happy Go Lucky (1936 film), Happy Go Lucky''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Eric 1897 births 1952 deaths American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Chicago Screenwriters from San Francisco 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters