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Frank Kane (July 19, 1912 – November 29, 1968) was an American author of detective fiction.

Biography

Kane was brought up in Brooklyn, New York. He attended St. John's Law School but had to leave his studies to support his spouse and newborn child. He worked as a columnist for The New York Press, as a letterer for the New York Trade Newspapers Corporation, for the New York Journal of Commerce, and in public relations, particularly as an advocate for the liquor industry. After World War II, he was a freelance writer, later working in radio, where he introduced movie stars, and in television.

Kane wrote for productions of The Shadow, Gang Busters, Counter Spy, The Fat Man, Casey, Crime Photographer, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, The Lawless Twenties, Nick Carter, Master Detective, and for the Coast Guard documentary You Have To Go Out. He created Call the Police for Lever Brothers and Claim Agent for NBC. From the 1940s through the 1960s, he wrote close to 40 novels (mostly centered around the character Johnny Liddell). He also wrote numerous short stories for crime magazines such as Manhunt, The Saint Detective Magazine, Private Eye, Pursuit.

He spent much of his in Hollywood, writing television dramas for the shows Special Agent 7 and The Investigators. He also wrote at least two dozen episodes of the television series Mike Hammer.

In 1960, his novel Key Witness was made into a feature film.

Works

• About Face (also titled: Death About Face) (also titled: The Fatal Foursome), (1947)
• Green Light For Death, (1949)
• Slay Ride, (1950)
• Bullet Proof, (1951)
• Dead Weight, (1951)
• Bare Trap, (1952)
• Poisons Unknown, (1953)
• Grave Danger, (1954)
• Red Hot Ice, (1955)
• Johnny Liddell's Morgue, (1956)
• Key Witness, (1956)
• A Real Gone Guy, (1956)
• Juke Box King, (1957)
• The Living End, (1957)
• Liz, (1958)
• Syndicate Girl, (1958)
• Trigger Mortis, (1958)
• The Line-Up, (1959)
• Trial By Fear, (1959)
• The Flesh Peddlers , (1959)
• A Short Bier, (1960)
• Time To Prey, (1960)
• Johnny Staccato , (1960)
• Due Or Die, (1961)
• The Mourning After, (1961)
• Stacked Deck, (1961)
• The Conspirators, (1962)
• Crime Of Their Live, (1962)
• Dead Rite, (1962)
• Hearse Class Male, (1963)
• Johnny Come Lately, (1963)
• Ring-A-Ding-Ding, (1963)
• Barely Seen, (1964)
• Fatal Undertaking, (1964)
• Final Curtain, (1964)
• The Guilt-Edged Frame, (1964)
• Esprit De Corpse, (1965)
• Two To Tangle, (1965)
• Maid In Paris, (1966)
• Margin For Terror, (1967)

Source:

References

1. ^ Ellet, Ryan (2017). Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962. McFarland. p. 112. ISBN 9781476665931.
2. ^ Fox, Maura (28 March 2021). "Frank Kane". Thrilling Detectives.
3. "Author - Frank Kane". Author and Book Info.

External links

• Works by Frank Kane at Faded Page (Canada)
• Frank Kane at IMDb
• Works by Frank Kane at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

• 1912 births
• 1968 deaths
• 20th-century American novelists
• American male novelists
• Writers from New York City
• 20th-century American male writers