Michael Avallone
Michael Angelo Avallone, Jr. was a prolific American writer born in New York City on October 27, 1924. He grew up in the Bronx, one of seventeen siblings, and faced financial difficulties during the Great Depression. Following his service in the U.S. Army's mechanized infantry during World War II, Avallone began a dual career of selling stationery and candy while writing at night. He published his first short story in 1951 and eventually became known for his extensive work in genre fiction. Avallone authored at least two hundred books, including the popular Ed Noon detective series, and wrote under various pseudonyms across multiple genres, including horror, science fiction, and children’s mysteries.
His adaptations of films and television series garnered significant attention, leading to his nicknames such as "The King of the Paperbacks." He was recognized for his productivity and versatility, often completing a book in just thirty-six hours. Despite criticisms of his writing style, he developed a loyal readership and was elected to the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. Avallone's contributions to literature reflect a unique dedication to genre writing and a passion for storytelling.
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Michael Avallone
Writer
- Born: October 27, 1924
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: February 26, 1999
- Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Biography
Michael Angelo Avallone, Jr., was born in New York City on October 27, 1924, one of seventeen children of Michael Angelo Avallone, a stonemason, and Marie Antoinette Antonelli Avallone. He grew up in the Bronx, where his family was once evicted from its home when his father was out of work for a long period during the Depression. As a boy, Avallone escaped to the movies and was reputed to have seen every American motion picture released during the 1930’s. After attending Theodore Roosevelt High School, he served in the army’s mechanized infantry from 1943 to 1946 in Europe, rising to the rank of sergeant. When his army stint was completed, he spent a decade selling stationary and candy during the day while writing at night. In 1949 he married Lucille Asero, with whom he had a son. After that marriage failed, he married Frances Weinstein in 1960, and the couple had two children. Avallone lived in East Brunswick, New Jersey, for thirty years before moving to Los Angeles in 1995.
Originally intending to be a writer like Thomas Wolfe, Avallone turned to genre fiction after his early serious efforts, including a war novel, were rejected by publishers. His first publication was a short story in Baseball Stories in 1951. In addition to writing for most of the pulp magazines of the 1950’s and 1960’s, Avallone edited numerous men’s magazines for many years, writing much of the content under various pseudonyms. Avallone wrote at least two hundred books, about half under his name and the rest under several pen names. He is best known for the Ed Noon series, forty detective novels published between 1953 and 1988 that feature a wisecracking private eye who, like his creator, is fond of baseball and films. Avallone also wrote horror stories, science fiction (including fifteen books with a gay hero), Westerns, erotic fiction, mysteries for children, and gothic romances under female pseudonyms. He was reputed to have written one book three times in different genres, selling each version to a different publisher.
His best-selling books were adaptations of films, like director Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor, and television series, such asThe Man from U.N.C.L.E and The Partridge Family. Often called “The King of the Paperbacks” and “Fastest Typewriter in the East,” he enjoyed telling interviewers that he never wrote a book he did not like and preferred writing to eating and sleeping. Avallone was elected to the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame and served on the awards committee of the Mystery Writers of America from 1961 to 1971, one of many posts he held in that organization. Despite bizarre plot twists, loose ends, and inattention to logic, Avallone’s novels have attracted a loyal following. Though critics complained about such writing as “The whites of his eyes came up in their sockets like moons over an oasis lined with palm trees,” Avallone has been admired for his productivity (writing one book in thirty-six hours), his versatility, and his obvious pleasure in genre fiction.