Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 – June 29, 1990) was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. He was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme.
Early life
Wallace was born in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, to Bessie Liss and Alexander Wallace (an Americanized version of the original family name of Wallechinsky). The family was Jewish
and originally from Russia. Wallace was named after his maternal grandfather, a bookkeeper and
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic scholar of
Narewka, Poland. Wallace grew up at 6103 Eighteenth Avenue in
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...
, where he attended Kenosha Central High School. He was the father of
Olympic historian
David Wallechinsky and author
Amy Wallace.
Career
Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In
the Second World War Wallace served in the
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...
unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel – better known as
Dr. Seuss – and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the
First Motion Picture Unit of the
Army Air Force. Soon, however, Wallace turned to a more lucrative job as a
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as ''
The West Point Story'' (1950), ''
Split Second'' (1953), ''Meet Me at the Fair'' (1953), and ''
The Big Circus'' (1959). He also contributed three scripts to the western television program ''
Have Gun – Will Travel
''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
''.
After an unsatisfying stint in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. He published his first non-fiction work in 1955, ''The Fabulous Originals'', and his first fiction offering, ''The Sins of Philip Fleming'', in 1959. The latter, ignored by critics, was followed by the enormously successful ''The Chapman Report''. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime, translated into 31 languages.
Irving Wallace was married to Sylvia (née Kahn) Wallace, a former magazine writer and editor. Her first novel, ''The Fountains'', was an American best-seller and published in twelve foreign editions. Her second novel, ''Empress'', was published in 1980. She also helped him to produce, along with their two children, ''
The Book of Lists#2'' and ''The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People''. In her autobiography, Amy Wallace wrote that her mother's contributions were not always helpful and the atmosphere not always harmonious.
[''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' – Amy Wallace (Frog, 2003), p. 125] Sylvia Wallace died October 20, 2006, at age 89.
Several of Wallace's books have been made into films, including ''
The Chapman Report'', ''
The Man'', ''
The Seven Minutes'' and ''
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
''. Also among his best-known books are ''
The Prize'' (1962), ''
The Word'' (1972) and ''
The Fan Club'' (1974).
Michael Korda and
Peter Schwed were the editors for Wallace at
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 ...
. In his autobiography ''Another Life'', Korda suggests that Wallace invented a style of novel that is at once a strong story and encyclopedia, with "some sex thrown in to keep the reader's pulse going."
With his son, daughter and wife he produced some notable non-fiction works, including three editions each of ''
The People's Almanac
''The People's Almanac'' is a series of three books compiled in 1975, 1978 and 1981 by David Wallechinsky and his father Irving Wallace.
In 1973, Wallechinsky became fed up with almanacs that regurgitated bare facts. He had the idea for a ref ...
'' (with son David) and ''
The Book of Lists'' (with David and Amy and wife Sylvia for the second volume). Wallace used many of the odd facts he uncovered in his novels.
Wallace died of
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
on June 29, 1990, at age 74. He was interred at
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, United States. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried there. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles ...
in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...
.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''The Sins of Philip Fleming: A Compelling Novel of One Man's Intimate Problem'' (1959)
* ''The Chapman Report'' (1960); made into a 1962
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
* ''
The Prize'' (1962)
* ''The Three Sirens'' (1963)
* ''
The Man'' (1964)
* ''The Plot (1967)''
* ''
The Seven Minutes'' (1969)
* ''
The Word'' (1972)
* ''
The Fan Club'' (1974)
* ''
The R Document'' (1976)
* ''The Pigeon Project'' (1979)
* ''
The Second Lady'' (1980)
* ''The Almighty'' (1982)
* ''The Miracle'' (1984/2005)
* ''
The Seventh Secret'' (1986) (with an additional chapter by Tom Posch in the Dutch translation of 1989)
* ''
The Celestial Bed'' (1987)
* ''The Golden Room'' (1988)
* ''The Guest of Honor'' (1989)
Non-fiction
* ''The Fabulous Originals: Lives of Extraordinary People Who Inspired Memorable Characters in Fiction'' (1955)
* ''The Square Pegs: Some Americans Who Dared to Be Different'' (1958)
* ''The Fabulous Showman: The Life and Times of P.T. Barnum'' (1959)
* ''The Twenty-Seventh Wife'' (1961)
* ''The Sunday Gentleman'' (1966)
* ''The Writing of One Novel'' (1968)
* ''The Nympho and Other Maniacs: The Lives, the Loves and the Sexual Adventures of Some Scandalous and Liberated Ladies'' (1971)
* ''
The People's Almanac
''The People's Almanac'' is a series of three books compiled in 1975, 1978 and 1981 by David Wallechinsky and his father Irving Wallace.
In 1973, Wallechinsky became fed up with almanacs that regurgitated bare facts. He had the idea for a ref ...
'' (1975)
* ''
The Book of Lists'' (1977) (with David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace)
* ''
The Two: The Biography of The Original Siamese Twins'' (1978) (with Amy Wallace)
* ''The People's Almanac #2'' (1978) (with David Wallechinsky)
* ''
The Book of Lists#2'' (1980) (with David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace and Sylvia Wallace)
* ''
The Book of Predictions'' (1981) (with David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace)
* ''The People's Almanac #3'' (1981) (with David Wallechinsky)
* ''The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People'' (1981) (with David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace and Sylvia Wallace)
* ''
The Book of Lists#3'' (1983) (with Amy Wallace and David Wallechinsky)
* ''Significa'' (1983) (with Amy Wallace and David Wallechinsky)
In 1974, John Leverance, of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), published "Irving Wallace: A Writer's Profile", an analysis and appreciation of Wallace's work.
References
External links
*
*
*
''Irving Wallace: A Writer's Profile'' by John Leverence and Sam L. Grogg(Popular Press, 1974)
''The Miracle'' by Irving Wallace(Google Books preview)
Irving Wallace Papers Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Irving Wallace Collectionheld b
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Irving
1916 births
1990 deaths
20th-century American novelists
Almanac compilers
American book editors
American information and reference writers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California
First Motion Picture Unit personnel
Jewish American non-fiction writers
Jewish American novelists
Jewish American screenwriters
People from Kenosha, Wisconsin
Writers from Chicago
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from Illinois
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Illinois
Screenwriters from Wisconsin
20th-century American screenwriters
20th-century American Jews