Steve Fisher | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1912-08-29)August 29, 1912 Marine City, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 1980(1980-03-27) (aged 67) Canoga Park, Los Angeles, U.S. |
| Other names | Grant Lane Stephen Gould |
| Occupations | Author of pulp stories, novels, and screenplays |
| Years active | 1930–1980 |
Stephen Gould Fisher (August 29, 1912 – March 27, 1980) was an American author best known for hispulp stories, novels and screenplays. He is one of the few pulp authors to go on to enjoy success as both an author in "slick" magazines, such as theSaturday Evening Post, and as an in-demand writer inHollywood.
Steve Fisher was born August 29, 1912, inMarine City, Michigan. He was raised inLos Angeles, California, where he attended Oneonta Military Academy until running away to join the Navy at the age of sixteen.[1] Fisher spent four years in theNavy submarine service, during which time he wrote prolifically, selling stories toU.S. Navy andOur Navy.[2]
After Fisher's discharge from the Navy, he settled inGreenwich Village,New York, where he decided to pursue writing as a career. The first few months proved difficult. Fisher could not sell a story and suffered eviction from two apartments, and once had his electricity shut off.[3] In March 1934, however, he would publish his first story, "Hell’s Scoop," inSure-Fire Detective Magazine, beginning a career of considerable literary success.[citation needed]
Fisher published extensively in pulps throughout the 1930s, ‘40s and into the ‘50s. Magazines that featured his stories includeSpicy Mystery Stories,Thrilling Detective,True Gang Life,Detective Fiction Weekly,The Shadow,New Mystery Adventures,Underground Detective,The Mysterious Fu Wang,The Phantom Detective,Ace Detective,Saucy Romantic Adventures,Mystery Adventure,Detective Tales,The Whisperer,Headquarters Detective,Hardboiled,Doc Savage,Feds,Federal Agent,Popular Detective,Clues,Detective Romances,Crime Busters,Pocket Detective andDetective Story Magazine.[1]
Some of Fisher’s most significant stories, however, would be published inBlack Mask, the seminal detective magazine. FamousMask editorJoe Shaw rejected early submissions by Fisher, but under the editorship of Fanny Ellsworth, Fisher would help create a more emotional, psychological crime story, different from his hard-boiledMask predecessors. Fisher stated, "[My] subjective style, mood and approach to a story was the antithesis of [a] Roger Torrey who, like Hammett, wrote objectively, with crisp, cold precision".[4] "The more emotionally charged style caught on and was featured in a number of detective pulps," helping to establish a place for similar authors, such as Fisher's friendCornell Woolrich.[5] In total Fisher would publish nine stories inBlack Mask: "Death of a Dummy," "Flight to Paris," "Hollywood Party," "Jake and Jill," "Latitude Unknown," "Murder at Eight," "No Gentleman Strangles His Wife," "Wait for Me," "You’ll Always Remember Me,".[6]
Fisher would also break into slick magazines during this period, a rare feat for a pulp writer. His stories saw simultaneous publication in pulps and in slicks such asLiberty,Collier's,The Saturday Evening Post,Cosmopolitan andAmerican Magazine to name a few.[7] He would also publish under the pennames Stephen Gould and Grant Lane, and would go on to publish hundreds of stories in pulp and slick magazines[8] including Lt. Commander Sheridan Doome detective novels.
Struggling financially, Fisher moved toParis in 1939 to work and live more affordably. After only six months, his agent,H. N. Swanson, sold the stories "If You Break My Heart" and "Shore Leave" toHollywood for film adaptation.[9] Fisher returned toHollywood where he would work for much of the remainder of his life as a screenwriter. Fisher wrote the screenplays for such notable films noir asDead Reckoning andLady in the Lake. He would also spend time writing novels, most notablyI Wake Up Screaming (1941), which was made into afilm that same year starringVictor Mature. A remake followed in 1953,Vicki, starringJeanne Crain andJean Peters. Both films deviate from the original story, nobably shifting the action from Hollywood to New York. During the 1970s, Fisher wrote for series television, including such shows asStarsky & Hutch,McMillan & Wife andBarnaby Jones.[10] He died of a heart attack on March 27, 1980, at his home inCanoga Park, Los Angeles, age 67.[11][12]
