Frederick J. Jackson

Frederick J. Jackson, also known professionally as Fred Jackson and Frederick Jackson and under the pseudonym Victor Thorne, (September 21, 1886 – May 22, 1953) was an American author, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and producer for both stage and film. A prolific writer of short stories and serialized novels, most of his non-theatre works were published in pulp magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Argosy. Many of these stories were adapted into films by other writers.

Jackson was also a productive screenwriter, penning more than 50 films between 1912 and 1946. He was the author of more than sixty plays. Over a forty-year span, a dozen of his plays were produced on Broadway, and he also had several other plays produced in London's West End. Many of his plays were turned into films; usually by other screenwriters.

Frederick J. Jackson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1886. He was educated at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. He began his career as a writer in 1905 working for the American magazine publisher Frank Munsey with whom he was under contract for many years.

Under Munsey, Jackson became a prolific writer of short stories and serialized novels, and most of his non-theatre works were published in pulp magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Argosy. He wrote a wide array of fiction and produced works in nearly every genre in the field in Munsey's magazines; including mystery, romance, westerns, science fiction, and fantasy among others. He did publish some novels in book format using the name Fred Smith with other publishing companies, including The Hidden Princess: a modern romance (1910, George W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia) and The Third Act (1914, Desmond Fitzgererald Inc., New York). He also published a third novel, Anne Against the World: a love story (1925, Chelsea House) under the pseudonym Victor Thorne; a name he also periodically used as a playwright and short story writer.

Several of Munsey's short stories and serialized novels were turned into films by other screenwriters. Among these films are Annie-for-Spite (1917), Tinsel (1918), High Speed (1924), The Lone Chance (1924), Love Letters (1924), Her Man o' War (1926), and Ladies Beware (1927).

In 1912 Jackson began his career as a screenwriter, and by 1946 he had penned the screenplays for more than 50 films. His first work for the screen was the 1912 short film A Detective Strategy which was a starring vehicle for the silent film actor Charles Clary and which Jackson based on his own short story "Thistledown". Much of his early work as a screenwriter was devoted to writing for the Pearl White serials, such as The Fatal Ring (1917). Some of his notable later films included Wells Fargo (1937), Stormy Weather (1943), Hi Diddle Diddle (1943), and Club Havana (1945, also known as Two Tickets to Heaven).

Jackson was also a prolific writer for the theatre, producing more than sixty plays during his lifetime. Only a fraction of these managed to make it to Broadway.

He died in Hollywood, California on May 22, 1953. He was married to Florence Howe.