Frank Gruber (writer)

Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer, best known for his Westerns and his detective stories. He sometimes wrote under the pen names Stephen Acre, Charles K. Boston and John K. Vedder.

Gruber—who stated that only seven types of Westerns existed^[1]—wrote more than 300 stories for over 40 pulp magazines, as well as more than sixty novels and more than 200 screenplays and television scripts. He bragged that he could write a complete mystery novel in 16 days and then use the other 14 days of the month to knock out a historical serial for a magazine.^[2] Gruber said that, while in the Army, he learned how to manipulate the dice to throw 35 consecutive sevens, but that he had "lost this skill through lack of practice".^[3] His mystery novels included The French Key and The Laughing Fox.

See also

• List of Ace western double titles

References

External links

• Works written by or about Frank Gruber at Wikisource
• Frank Gruber at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography of Frank Gruber, with lists of works at The Thrilling Detective website