Thursday, June 19, 2008

Collin Wilcox - Mystery Writer; Created TVs "McCloud"


[Collin Wilcox gravestone photo by Michael Colbruno]

Plot 33

Collin Wilcox (1924-1996) was a lamp retailer turned mystery writer who published 30 books in 30 years.

Born in Detroit, Michigan he first book was The Black Door (1967) featuring a sleuth possessing extrasensory perception. His major series of novels was about Lieutenant Frank Hastings of the San Francisco Police Department. Titles in the Hastings series included Hire a Hangman, Dead Aim, Hiding Place, Long Way Down and Stalking Horse. Two of his last books, Full Circle and Find Her a Grave, featured a new hero-sleuth, Alan Bernhardt, an eccentric theater director. Wilcox also published under the pseudonym "Carter Wick".

However, Wilcox's most famous series-detective was created in Hollywood: Sam McCloud, the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime. The "urban cowboy" was brought to life on the small screen by Dennis Weaver in the 1970-1977 TV series McCloud. Wilcox wrote three novelizations based on scripts from the series: McCloud (1973), The New Mexican Connection (1974), and The Park Avenue Executioner (1975).

He died in San Francisco from cancer at the age of 72.

[Biography taken from Wikipedia]



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