Donald E. Westlake Biography (1933-)

Full name, Donald Edwin Westlake, later Donald Edwin Edmond Westlake; born July 12, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, NY; son of Albert Joseph (in sales) and Lillian Marguerite (maiden name, Bounds) Westlake; married Nedra Henderson, August 10, 1957 (divorced, 1966); married Sandra Foley, April 9, 1967 (divorced, 1975); married Abigail Adams (a writer; also known as Abby Adams, Abby Adams Westlake, and Abby Westlake), May 18, 1979; children: Sean Alan, Steven Albert, Tod, Paul Edwin; stepchildren: Adrienne Adams, Patrick Adams, KatharineAdams.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer
Birth Details: July 12, 1933; Brooklyn, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Television Work
Series
Creator, Supertrain, NBC, 1979
WRITINGS
Screenplays
Cops and Robbers, United Artists, 1973
(With Michael Kane) Hot Stuff, Columbia, 1979
Slayground (based on his novel), Universal, 1984
(And author of story with Carolyn Lefront and Brian Garfield) The Stepfather (also known as Stepfather I), New Century-Vista, 1987
(With Leonard Mass, Jr.) Why Me? (based on his novel), Triumph, 1989
The Grifters (based on the novel by Jim Thompson), Miramax, 1990
Teleplays
Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery (pilot), NBC, 1987
(Author of story) A Slight Case of Murder (movie; also known as A Travesty), HBO, 1999
Writer for the series 87th Precinct, NBC; wrote episodes of television anthology series, including "Fly Paper," 1993.
Novels
The Mercenaries, Random House (New York City), 1960
Brother and Sister, Monarch Books, 1961
Campus Doll, Monarch Books, 1961
Killing Time, Random House, 1961
Young and Innocent, Monarch Books, 1961
Strange Affair, Monarch Books, 1962
361, Random House, 1962
Killy, Random House, 1963
Pity Him Afterwards, Random House, 1964
The Fugitive Pigeon, Random House, 1965
(As Curt Clark) Anarchaos, Ace Books (New York City), 1966
The Busy Body, Random House, 1966
The Spy in the Ointment, Random House, 1966
God Save the Mark, Random House, 1967
Philip, Crowell (New York City), 1967
Who Stole Sassi Manoon?, Random House, 1968
Somebody Owes Me Money, Random House, 1969
Up Your Banners, Macmillan (New York City), 1969
Adios, Scheherezade, Simon & Schuster (New York City), 1970
(As Timothy J. Culver) Ex Officio, M. Evans (New York City), 1970
The Hot Rock, Simon & Schuster, 1970
I Gave at the Office, Simon & Schuster, 1971
Bank Shot, Simon & Schuster, 1972
Cops and Robbers, M. Evans, 1972
(With Brian Garfield) Gangway, M. Evans, 1972
Help I Am Being Held Prisoner, M. Evans, 1974
Jimmy the Kid, M. Evans, 1974
Brothers Keepers, M. Evans, 1975
A Travesty, M. Evans, 1975
Two Much, M. Evans, 1975
Dancing Aztecs, M. Evans, 1976 published as A New York Dance, Hodder & Stoughton (London), 1979

Enough! (contains A Travesty), M. Evans, 1977
Nobody's Perfect, M. Evans, 1977
Castle in the Air, M. Evans, 1980
Kahawa, Viking (New York City), 1982
Why Me?, Viking, 1983
A Likely Story, Penzler Books, 1984
High Adventure, Mysterious Press (New York City), 1985
Good Behavior, Mysterious Press, 1986
(With Abby Westlake) High Jinx, introduction by Martin Cruz Smith,Dennis McMillan Publications, 1987
(With A. Westlake) Transylvania Station, introduction by Stephen King, Dennis McMillan Publications, 1987
Trust Me on This, Mysterious Press, 1988
Sacred Monster, Mysterious Press, 1989
Drowned Hopes, Mysterious Press, 1990
Humans, Mysterious Press, 1992
Don't Ask, Mysterious Press, 1993
Give Till It Hurts: A Christmas Story, Mysterious Bookshop (Hollywood, CA), 1993
Baby, Would I Lie? A Romance of the Ozarks, Mysterious Press, 1994
Smoke, Mysterious Press, 1995
What's the Worst That Could Happen?, Mysterious Press, 1996
The Ax, Mysterious Press, 1998
The Hook, Mysterious Press, 2000
Bad News, Mysterious Press, 2001
Short Stories
The Curious Facts Preceding My Execution, and Other Fictions, Random House, 1968
Levine, Mysterious Press, 1984
Tomorrow's Crimes (also includes the novel Anarchaos), Mysterious Press, 1990
A Good Story and Other Stories, Macmillan, 1999
Nonfiction
(As John B. Allan) Elizabeth Taylor: A Fascinating Story of America'sMost Talented Actress and the World's Most Beautiful Woman (biography), Monarch, 1961
Under an English Heaven, Simon & Schuster, 1971
Works As Editor
(With others) Once against the Law, Macmillan, 1968
(With J. Madison Davis) Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories, Oxford University Press (New York City), 1996
(With Otto Penzler) The Best American Mystery Stories, Houghton (Boston), 2000
Novels As Tucker Coe
Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death, Random House, 1966
Murder among Children, Random House, 1968
Wax Apple, Random House, 1970
A Jade in Aries, Random House, 1971
Don't Lie to Me, Random House, 1972
Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death: The First Mitch Tobin Mystery, International Polygonics, 2001
Novels As Richard Stark
The Mourner, Pocket Books (New York City), 1963
The Outfit, Pocket Books, 1963
The Man with the Getaway Face, Pocket Books, 1963 published as The Steel Hit, Coronet (London), 1971 Berkley Publishing (New York City),1975
The Hunter, Pocket Books, 1963 published as Point Blank, Berkley Publishing, 1973 reprinted the under original title with a new introduction by the author, Gregg Press, 1981
The Score, Pocket Books, 1964
The Jugger, Pocket Books, 1965
The Handle, Pocket Books, 1966 published as Run Lethal, Berkley Publishing, 1966
The Seventh, Pocket Books, 1966 published as The Split, Allison & Busby, 1984
The Dame, Macmillan (New York City), 1967
The Damsel, Macmillan, 1967
The Green Eagle Score, Fawcett (New York City), 1967
The Rare Coin Score, Fawcett, 1967
The Black Ice Score, Fawcett, 1968
The Blackbird, Macmillan, 1969
The Sour Lemon Score, Fawcett, 1969
Deadly Edge, Random House, 1971
Lemons Never Lie, World Publishing, 1971
Slayground, Random House, 1971
Plunder Squad, Random House, 1972
Butcher's Moon, Random House, 1974
Stark Mysteries (anthology; contains The Hunter, The Manwith the Getaway Face, The Mourner, The Outfit, The Score, and The Seventh), G. K. Hall (Boston), 1981
Comeback, Mysterious Press, 1997
Backflash, Mysterious Press, 1998
Flashfire, Mysterious Press, 2000
Other Writings
(With George S. Irving) Just One of Those Days, Durkin Hayes Publishing, 1996
Sniff (audio book), Durkin Hayes, 1997
The Spy in the Elevator (audio book), Durkin Hayes, 1997
Contributor to anthologies, including Third Culprit, St. Martin'sPress (New York City), 1994; The Midnight Ghost Book; and The 13thGhost Book. Contributor to periodicals, sometimes under the pseudonyms Curt Clark, Timothy J. Culver, J. Morgan Cunningham, Samuel Holt, Alan Marshall, or Edwin West, including Amazing Stories, Analog, Cosmopolitan, Galaxy, New York Times Magazine, Nova, and Playboy.

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

Several of Westlake's novels have been made into films. The Juggerwas produced in France as Made in U.S.A. (also known as Nothing inthe Coffers and Rien dans le coffre), 1966; The Busy Bodywas released by Paramount in 1967; The Hunter was adapted as PointBlank, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1967; The Score was adapted in France as Mise en sac, 1967; The Seventh was adapted asThe Split, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1968; The Hot Rock (also known as How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons) was released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1972; Bank Shot was released by United Artists in 1974; The Outfit was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in1974; Jimmy the Kid was released by New World in 1982; Two Much was adapted in France as Le Jumeau (also known as The Twin) in 1984, and another adaptation (also known as Loco de amor) was released by Buena Vista in 1996; La divine pousuite (also known as The Gods Must Be Dancing), based on the novel Dancing Aztecs, was released by AMLF in 1997; The novel The Hunter was adapted as Payback, released by Paramount in 1999; Jimmy the Kid was released by Buena Vista in 1999; What's the Worst That Could Happen? was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2001; and The Hook was released by UGC Images in 2001, and a French adaptation, Dis-moi qui tu hais, was released in 1991. The television movie A Slight Case of Murder (also known as A Travesty), broadcast by HBO in 1999, was based on the novel A Travesty. Characters in Stepfather II (also known as The Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy), released in 1989, and Stepfather III (also known as Stepfather 3: Father's Day), released in 1992, were based on characters created by Westlake. The television series Journey to the Unknown (also known as Out of the Unknown), broadcast in 1968, was based onstories by Westlake. Many of Westlake's novels have been recorded as audio books, and some of his short stories have been included in audio book collections.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, Volume 13, Gale, 1991
Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Volume 16, Gale, 1986
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 7, Gale, 1977, Volume 33,1985,

Periodicals

Armchair Detective, spring, 1995, p. 206; winter, 1996, p. 106
Austin Chronicle, December 29, 1997
Entertainment Weekly, February 28, 1992 April 2, 1993 May 12, 1995, p. 59

Electronic

Donald E. Westlake Official Site, http://www. onaldwestlake.com, October 2, 2001

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