Michael Avallone

Michael Angelo Avallone (October 27, 1924 – February 26, 1999)[1] was a prolific American author of mystery, secret agent fiction, and novelizations of TV and films. His lifetime output was over 223 works (although he boasted over 1,000), published under his own name and 17 pseudonyms.[2][3]

Biography

Avallone was born in New York City on October 27, 1924 and died in Los Angeles on February 26, 1999. He was married in 1949 to Lucille Asero; they had one son before the marriage was dissolved. In 1960 he married Fran Weinstein, and together they had one son and one daughter.[4]

Works

His first novel, The Tall Dolores, published in 1953, introduced Ed Noon PI. The most recent installment was published in 1989. The final volume, Since Noon Yesterday is, as of 2005, unpublished.

Avallone has been prolific at writing movie and TV tie-ins, more than two dozen beginning with 1963's The Main Attraction. His most successful tie-in was the first of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in novels, The Thousand Coffins Affair. Despite its success, ironically, Avallone said thet he'd gotten a rotten deal from the publisher on the project. "I did it for a flat fee of $1,000 with a handshake deal to do the rest of the series," said Avallone in a 1989 interview. "Then Ace double-crossed everybody and they got follow-up writers to do the others. They sold it to 60 foreign countries, and it stayed in print until 1970. Every copy of the book says April, 1965 - there's no record of a printing order or anything - but they had five printings in the first three months! Everything to worked right in The Thousand Coffins Affair and it sort of set the pattern for all kinds of TV spy books. I was very satisfied with it, and despite the monetary beating I took, it did get me a lot of work down through the years.".[5] Avallone said he faced some minor editorial restrictions on the U.N.C.L.E. book, at the studio's insistence. The villainous organization of the book, Golgotha, was described by Avallone as being German. "MGM insisted on making then Russians -- and of course this is 1964, the height of the Cold War," he said.[6]

His tie-ins included The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Friday the 13th Part III, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and even The Partridge Family. His novellas in the late 1960s featured UNCLE-like INTREX.

Under the house name Nick Carter, he wrote some of the Nick Carter spy novels beginning in the 1960s. As Troy Conway, he wrote the tongue-in-cheek porn Rod Damon: The Coxeman, and parodied The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from 1967-1973. He also wrote the novelization of the 1982 TV miniseries, A Woman Called Golda, based on the life of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.[7]

Among his pseudonyms (male and female) were: Mile Avalione, Mike Avalone, Nick Carter, Troy Conway, Priscilla Dalton, Mark Dane, Jeanne-Anne dePre, Dora Highland, Stuart Jason, Steve Michaels, Dorothea Nile, Edwina Noone, John Patrick, Vance Stanton, Sidney Stuart, Max Walker, and Lee Davis Willoughby.[1]

From 1962 to 1965, Avallone edited the Mystery Writers of America newsletter.[4]

Awards

Avallone has been inducted into the "New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame".[4] He was also nominated for the 1989 Anthony Award in the "Best Paperback Original" category for his novel High Noon at Midnight.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Adrian, Jack (March 20, 1999). "Obituary: Michael Avallone - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  2. ↑ Smith, Kevin Burton. "Authors and Creators: Michael Avallone". Thrillingdetective.com. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  3. ↑ Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 25. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
  4. 1 2 3 Pace, Eric (March 1, 1999). "Michael Avallone, 74, Author Of Ed Noon Detective Stories - New York Times". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  5. ↑ Randall D. Larson, Films Into Books Metuchen, NY: Scarecrow Press, 1995, pp. 58-62
  6. ↑ Larson, p. 60
  7. ↑ "Golda Bibliography | We Educate Colorado | Metropolitan State College of Denver". Mscd.edu. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees". Bouchercon.info. October 2, 2003. Retrieved March 21, 2012.

External links

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