Bill S. Ballinger
- See Bill Ballinger for Canadian politician
William Sanborn Ballinger (1912–1980) was an American writer and screenwriter.
Early life
He was born 13 March 1912 in Oskalloosa, Iowa. He received his education at the
Career
Working in radio and advertising in the early 1940s, Ballinger wrote 81 radio scripts and produced The Dinah Shore Show, The Breakfast Club, and Lowell Thomas broadcasts. After Ballinger moved from New York to Los Angeles, he began writing full-time.
Writing primarily under his own name, but occasionally using the pen names B.X. Sanborn and Frederic Freyer, Ballinger authored almost 30 books and twenty-five short stories. His mysteries sold more than ten million copies in the U.S., and have been reprinted in thirty countries and translated into more than thirteen languages. The hardboiled private-detective novel The Body in the Bed marked his debut in 1948, and he followed this with the sequel The Body Beautiful, the following year.
Best known as a writer of suspense novels, he achieved international fame as an early exponent of dual narrative storytelling,
Between 1977 and 1979 he was an associate professor of writing at the
Later life
Ballinger died 23 March 1980 Tarzana, California.
Screenwriting
Ballinger was a frequent writer for
In addition to his books and teleplays, Ballinger wrote screenplays for
Barr Breed series
- The Body in the Bed (New York, Harper, 1948)
- The Body Beautiful (New York, Harper, 1949)
Joaquin Hawks series
- The Spy in the Jungle (New York, New American Library, 1965)
- The Chinese Mask (New York, New American Library, 1965)
- The Spy in Bangkok (New York, New American Library, 1965)
- The Spy at Angor Wat (New York, New American Library, 1966)
- The Spy in the Java Sea (New York, New American Library, 1966)
Non series novels
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Filmography
Films
Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1954 | Pushover | Story By | Based on the novel "Rafferty" |
1956 | Wicked as They Come | Story By | Based on the novel "Portrait in Smoke" |
1960 | Unsolved | Written By | Television Movie |
1964 | The Strangler | Written By | |
1965 | Operation C.I.A. | Written By | Co-Wrote screenplay with "Peer J. Oppenheimer" |
1980 | Die längste Sekunde | Story By | Television Movie, Based on the novel "The Longest Second" |
2017 | The Tooth and the Nail | Story By | Based on The novel of the same name |
Television
Year | TV Series | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | Mr. Black | Writer | 1 Episode |
1950 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Writer | 1 Episode |
1958-59 | M Squad | Writer | 2 Episodes |
1959 | Mike Hammer | Writer | 11 Episodes |
Shotgun Slade | Writer | 1 Episode | |
1959-61 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Writer | 7 Episodes |
1960 | Bonanza | Writer | 1 Episode |
Diagnosis: Unknown | Writer | 1 Episode | |
The Man from Blackhawk | Writer | 1 Episode | |
Tales of Wells Fargo | Writer | 2 Episodes | |
Tightrope! | Writer | 1 Episode | |
1961 | The Aquanauts | Writer | 1 Episode |
Miami Undercover | Writer | 1 Episode | |
Tallahassee 7000 | Writer | 2 Episodes | |
1963 | Arrest and Trial | Writer | 1 Episode |
1964 | The Outer Limits | Writer | 1 Episode |
1966 | I Spy | Writer | 1 Episode |
1967 | Run For Your Life | Writer | 1 Episode |
1968-72 | Ironside | Writer | 3 Episodes |
1972-73 | Cannon | Writer | 2 Episodes |
1973 | Circle Of Fear | Writer | 1 Episode |
1974-75 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Writer | 2 Episodes |
References
- ^ "gadetection / Ballinger, Bill S". Gadetection.pbwiki.com. 1980-03-23. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ISBN 9780941028776.
- ^ Norfolk, Pam. "Book review: Portrait in Smoke and The Longest Second by Bill S. Ballinger". Lancashire Post. Archived from the original on 2018-06-26. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ISBN 9781944520489.
- ISBN 9781951473020.
- ^ "Barr Breed". Thrillingdetective.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Bill S Ballinger Bibliography of First Edition Books". Classiccrimefiction.com. 1912-03-13. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Bill S Ballinger". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. 1980-03-23. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ Variety Obituary 2 Apr 1980