Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

'' (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executive story editor of '' Hill Street Blues'' (1982–1985). He also directed the 1992 film '' Storyville''. He has also published novels beginning with '' The List of Seven'' (1993) as well as several non-fiction works, including ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'' (2002), which was adapted as a 2005 film.

Early life

Mark Frost was born on November 25, 1953 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 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 ...

, to Mary Virginia Calhoun and actor

Warren Frost Warren Frost (June 5, 1925 – February 17, 2017) was an American actor. His work was mainly in theater, but he worked in films and television sporadically from 1958. He is known for television roles on '' Matlock'' and ''Seinfeld'', and p ...

. He is the elder brother of actress Lindsay Frost and writer and photographer

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is an American football coach and player who currently serves as the head football coach for UCF Knights football, UCF. He was the head football coach at the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, University o ...

. During his childhood, Frost was raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and spent his adolescence in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, where he attended Marshall-University High School. As a high-school student, he spent two years on an internship program studying and working at Minneapolis'

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...

. Frost subsequently enrolled in

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

(CMU) in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, studying acting, directing and playwriting. During his time in college, he worked as a member of the lighting crew on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

'' alongside actor

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

. Frost graduated from CMU in 1975 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

. After his graduation, he returned to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where he was a literary associate until 1978.

Career

Frost was a writer for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television series '' Hill Street Blues''. He co-created the ABC television series ''

'' with

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

. The show developed from the initial setup of Lynch having been hired by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

to develop a film based on the life of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

that saw Lynch and Frost write a screenplay. While it didn't lead anywhere, they became good friends and it was Lynch who eventually got an "idea of a small-town thing", before Frost expressed interest in doing "a sort of Dickensian story about multiple lives in a contained area that could sort of go perpetually." First pitched during the

1988 Writers Guild of America strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by ...

, the show eventually premiered in 1990. They maintained control of the show for the first season but each had varying control over the second season, in which both later expressed regret at resolving the murder. The show first ended on June 10, 1991; Frost was not involved with the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). They then developed '' On the Air'', which aired from June 20 to July 4, 1992. He co-wrote and directed the film '' Storyville'', co-wrote ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

'' (2005) and wrote '' The Greatest Game Ever Played'', based on his 2002 book of the same name. He has written several books on golf, including ''The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever'', about a 1956 match pitting pros

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...

and Byron Nelson against amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, and ''The Grand Slam'', about the 1930 golf season of Bobby Jones. His fictional works include '' The List of Seven'', '' The Six Messiahs'', and ''The Second Objective''. Frost returned to co-write the third season of ''Twin Peaks'' alongside Lynch that aired in 2017.

Personal life

Frost has lived in Ojai,

, since 2011 with his wife Lynn and their son, Travis. His nephew is

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player Lucas Giolito.

Bibliography

Fiction

*'' The List of Seven'' (1993) *'' The Six Messiahs'' (1995) *''Before I Wake'' (1997) *''The Second Objective'' (2009) *'' The Paladin Prophecy'' (2012) *''The Paladin Prophecy 2: Alliance'' (2013) *''The Paladin Prophecy 3: Rogue'' (2015) *'' The Secret History of Twin Peaks'' (2016) *'' Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier'' (2017)

Non-fiction

*''The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story'' (2002) *''The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf'' (2006) *''The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever'' (2007) *''Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series'' (2009)

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

;

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

s ;

Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to Cinema of the United States, American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then ...

;

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

;

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s ; The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards ;

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Mark 1953 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American screenwriters American male novelists American male screenwriters American male television writers American television directors American television writers Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Film directors from Brooklyn Frost family Novelists from New York City Screenwriters from New York City Television producers from New York City American television show creators Writers from Brooklyn Writers Guild of America Award winners