This week over at Kerrie's spot at Mysteries in Paradise we are on the Letter "K" for her 2012 Edition of the meme Crime Fiction Alphabet. My contribution will be.......
Crime Fiction Alphabet: K is for Frank Kane
Frank Kane was born in Brooklyn in July 1912, and by the
time he was 19, he had graduated from New York City College, earning a BS. He
attended St. John's Law School, but prior to graduating, his first daughter was
born. He was told "better get a job
and get some money pretty quick!" So he left law school and began to put
his writing skills to use. He served a couple of years as a columnist for the New York Press, was Editor-in-Chief
for the New York Trade Newspapers Corporation, and an associate editor
for the New York Journal of Commerce. He also worked in public
relations, as an advocate and spokesperson for the Liquor Industry. He
apparently spent time on "the hill," in D.C., working with government
officials to end the prohibition of consumption of alcohol. He did much work
with the liquor industry throughout his career. After World War II, he returned
to public relations, as well as freelance writing, and later, radio and
television production. His writing for a New York newspaper led to a syndicated
Broadway column called New York From Dusk To Dawn, which profiled
Hollywood movie stars visiting New York. The column was later made into a radio
show, on which Kane featured popular movie personalities. He went on to pen
scripts for some of the most popular radio programs on the air, including six
years as the writer for The Shadow. Kane went on to write for a
multitude of radio programs. In the detective-adventure genre, he spent three
years writing Gang Busters. He also wrote for Counter Spy, The
Fat Man, Casey, Crime Photographer, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost
Persons, The Lawless Twenties and Nick Carter, Master Detective.
He also created Call the Police for Lever Brothers, and created, wrote
and produced Claims Agent for NBC, which was based on Kane's character,
Jim Rogers. And in 1947, Frank Kane was selected to write the Coast Guard
documentary You Have To Go Out, starring Robert Young. But it was as the author of mystery novels about the
adventures of Liddell that Kane was best known. Kane's first novel, About Face, placed detective Johnny
Liddell in Hollywood to solve the murder of an ex-racketeer who became a power
in the movie industry. The book could have been taken from the front pages of
the newspapers at the time (1947), except that the novel was written months
before the Bugsy Siegel murder. His novels, under his own name, and the
pseudonym of Frank Boyd, sold multi-millions of copies in hard cover and
paperback, and were translated into more than 17 languages. In the 1940's,
'50's, and '60's, Kane wrote between close to 40 books, most featuring Johnny
Liddell. He also claimed Liddell was the hero of more than 400 short stories
featured in top detective magazines such as Manhunt, The Saint Detective Magazine, Private Eye and Pursuit.
The Novels
·
About Face (1947, aka "Death About Face," " The Fatal
Foursome"; Johnny Liddell)
·
Green Light For Death (1949; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Slay Ride (1950; Johnny Liddell)
·
Bullet Proof (1951; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Dead Weight (1951; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Bare Trap (1952; Johnny Liddell)
·
Poisons Unknown (1953; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Grave Danger (1954; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Red Hot Ice (1955; Johnny
Liddell)
·
A Real Gone Guy (1956; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Key Witness (1956)
·
The Living End (1957; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Syndicate Girl (1958)
·
Trigger Mortis (1958; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Liz (1958)
·
Juke Box King (1959; Mickey Denton)
·
The Line-Up (1959; novelization of the TV series)
·
Trial by Fear (1959)
·
The Flesh Peddlers (1959; by Frank Boyd)
·
A Short Bier (1960; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Time To Prey (1960; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Johnny Staccato (1960; novelization of the TV series; by Frank Boyd)
·
Due Or Die (1961; Johnny
Liddell)
·
The Mourning After (1961; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Dead Rite (1962; Johnny Liddell)
·
Crime Of Their Life (1962; Johnny
Liddell)
·
The Conspirators (1962)
·
Ring-a-Ding-Ding (1963; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Hearse Class Male (1963; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Johnny Come Lately (1963; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Barely Seen (1964; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Final Curtain (1964; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Fatal Undertaking (1964; Johnny
Liddell)
·
The Guilt Edged Frame (1964; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Esprit De Corpse (1965; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Two To Tangle (1965; Johnny
Liddell)
·
Maid In Paris (1966; Johnny
Liddell)
· Margin For Terror
(1967; Johnny Liddell)
