Gerold Frank

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Gerold Frank (1907–1998) was a bestselling author, reporter, and war correspondent. His career ranged widely, from covering World War II and the plight of European Jews, to publishing true-crime sensations, to pioneering a new literary art form: the “as-told-to” celebrity biography. A prolific ghostwriter, he formed intimate collaborations with the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Judy Garland, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Rita Hayworth. As a journalist and author, Frank secured extraordinary access, embedding with the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine, and later with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Boston Strangler Task Force during its investigation of the infamous serial killings. Several of his books became films, including “The Boston Strangler,” starring Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda. Frank won Edgar Awards for The Boston Strangler and The Deed. Other bestsellers included Judy, the only biography of Judy Garland written with the full cooperation of her family and closest confidants, and An American Death, about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.