Gerold Frank (August 2, 1907 – September 17, 1998) was an American writer and
ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
. He wrote several celebrity memoirs and was considered a pioneer of the "as told to" form of (auto)biography. His two best-known books, however, are ''The Boston Strangler'' (1966), which was adapted as the
1968 movie starring
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...
and
Henry Fonda, and ''An American Death'' (1972), about the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Amory was a co-chairman of the executive committee for Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.
Life
Frank was born in 1907 in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, where his father was a tailor and owned a dress shop. He graduated from
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
and moved to
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
as an aspiring poet. Later he worked for a newspaper in Cleveland. He wrote some articles published by ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' and ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' and eventually returned to New York City, where he worked for ''
Journal-American''.
[
Frank wrote about the lives of Eastern European Jews before ]the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. In 1934 he made a film about life in a Polish shtetl
or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...
, featuring the lives of his parents and his wife Lilian. It included rare scenes of the Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
, which Frank donated to the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Establi ...
.[
Frank was a ]war correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone.
War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...
in the Middle East during World War II, and he collaborated with Bartley Crum on a book about the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine, ''Behind the Silken Curtain: a Personal Account of Anglo-American Diplomacy in Palestine and the Middle East'' (Simon & Schuster, 1947).[
He wrote a biography of ]Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...
entitled ''Judy'' (1975), considered by many to be the definitive book on Garland, and co-wrote Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor ( , ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were socialites and actresses Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor.
Gabor competed in the ...
's autobiography ''Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story'' (1960). ''I'll Cry Tomorrow
''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' (1955) is a biopic that tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and struggles with alcoholism after the death of her fiancé. It stars Susan Hayward, Rich ...
'' (1954), the autobiography of Lillian Roth
Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress.
Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...
, who co-wrote with Frank and columnist Mike Connolly, was an international bestseller, more than seven million copies in more than twenty languages. It was adapted as a 1955 movie by Frank among others and Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrener; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Clarence Thornton, Walt ...
was nominated for the Oscar in the starring role as Lillian Roth.
Frank won the annual "Best Fact Crime" 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 ...
from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City.
The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday.
It presents the E ...
twice, for ''The Deed'' (1963), a book about the assassination of Lord Moyne, as well as for ''The Boston Strangler'' (1966)."Best Fact Crime Edgar Award: Winners and Nominees"
948–1999 The Edgar Awards (mysterynet.com/edgars). Retrieved 2014-02-27.
According to Mr. Frank's son John, he wrote at least 17 books, including those as a ghostwriter without credit or with an acknowledgment alone.[
Gerold and Lilian Frank had two children, a son and a daughter.
]
Selected works
* ''Out in the Boondocks: marines in action in the Pacific; 21 U.S. marines tell their stories'' ( G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1943), by James D. Horan and Frank
* '' U.S.S. Seawolf, submarine raider of the Pacific'' (Putnam, 1945), by Frank and James D. Horan with oseph MelvinEckberg
* ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' ( Frederick Fell, 1954), by Lillian Roth
Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress.
Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...
in collaboration with Mike Connolly and Frank
* ''Too Much, Too Soon'' (Henry Holt and Company
Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in ...
, 1957), by Diana Barrymore and Frank — filmed in 1958
* ''Beloved Infidel: the education of a woman'', by Sheilah Graham and Frank (Holt, 1958)
* ''Zsa Zsa Gábor: my story, written for me by Gerold Frank'' (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1960), with Zsa Zsa Gábor
* ''The Deed'' (Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
, 1963) – about Lord Moyne, assassinated 1944
* ''Latin American mission; an adventure in hemisphere diplomacy'' (Simon & Schuster, 1965), ed. and introd. by Frank — about deLesseps S. Morrison, U.S. ambassador to OAS, 1961–63, autobiographical
* ''The Boston Strangler'' (New American Library
The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publi ...
, 1966)
* ''Judy'' (Harper & Row
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...
, 1975)
* ''An American Death: the true story of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the greatest manhunt of our time'' ( Doubleday, 1972) – about Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
, assassinated 1968
Films adapted from his books
* ''I'll Cry Tomorrow
''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' (1955) is a biopic that tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and struggles with alcoholism after the death of her fiancé. It stars Susan Hayward, Rich ...
'' (1955)
* '' Too Much, Too Soon'' (1958), or ''Too Much, Too Soon: The Daring Story of Diana Barrymore''
* '' Beloved Infidel'' (1959)
* '' The Boston Strangler'' (1968)
References
External links
Pictures from Kamionka
at JewishGen KehilaLinks (kehilalinks.jewishgen.org) – photos by Lilian Frank on a 1934 visit to Kamionka (now Kamenka in Grodno Region, Belarus)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Gerold
1907 births
1998 deaths
American male biographers
American male non-fiction writers
Ghostwriters
Ohio State University alumni
Writers from Cleveland
Jewish American non-fiction writers
20th-century American biographers
20th-century American male writers
People from Greenwich Village
Writers from Manhattan
20th-century American Jews