This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 37 items (2.5 linear feet) |
Abstract | Novelist, screenwriter, and producer, Ernest Frankel was a regular contributor to the Perry Mason television series and wrote the novels Tongue of Fire (1955) and Band of Brothers (1958). The collection includes scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel, including eleven scripts for episodes of Perry Mason, all but one written with Orville H. Hampton; one script for The New Perry Mason; scripts for episodes of The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, My Friend Tony; and several Movie of the Week scripts. Appended to most of the Perry Mason scripts are carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner and memos from the CBS Program Practices Department. |
Creator | Frankel, Ernest. |
Curatorial Unit | Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers |
Language | English. |
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Novelist, screenwriter, and producer, Ernest Frankel was a regular contributor to the Perry Mason television series and wrote the novels Tongue of Fire (1955) and Band of Brothers (1958). In addition to Perry Mason, his television credits include I Spy, The Mod Squad, Mannix, and numerous Movies of the Week, including Reluctant Heroes (1971) and Murder in Music City (1979).
Frankel was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 15 January 1923. He was graduated from high school in Charlotte, N.C., in 1940 and from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1944. At the University of North Carolina, Frankel was co-president of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and worked on the Daily Tar Heel, the Carolina Magazine, the Yackety Yack, and the Publications Union Board.
Frankel served as a Marine in the Pacific Theater during World War II and was recalled for service during the Korean War. He completed a brief tour of duty in Vietnam and retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.
Frankel wrote two novels in the 1950s: Tongue of Fire (1955), about the career of an American demagogue, and Band of Brothers (1958), about U.S. Marines serving in Korea during the Korean War. Frankel won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for fiction in 1959 for Band of Brothers.
Frankel worked for five years as a writer-director on the Apollo Project in the Space Division of North American Aviation. He subsequently worked as a writer and producer in network television.
Ernest Frankel married Louise Lazarus of Hendersonville, N.C., in 1944. They had two children, Sharyn Musika (UCLA 1968) and Elin Schwarz (UNC 1972).
Back to TopThe collection includes scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel. Included are eleven scripts of episodes of Perry Mason from the ninth season of the show, 1965-1966, when Frankel was Executive Story Consultant. All but one of the Perry Mason scripts collected here were written by Frankel with Orville H. Hampton. Most of the scripts include carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason books. Notes from the CBS Program Practices office are also appended.
Also included is one script from The New Perry Mason; scripts by Frankel for episodes of The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, and My Friend Tony; and several Movie of the Week scripts, some of which were pilots for television series. There is also a script for an episode of the series, Concrete Cowboys, which was based on a Movie of the Week produced by Frankel.
Back to TopArrangement: by television series.
Scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel. Included are eleven scripts of episodes of Perry Mason from the ninth season of the show, 1965-1966, when Frankel was Executive Story Consultant. "The Case of the Final Fadeout" was the final episode of the series. All but one of the Perry Mason scripts here were written by Frankel with Orville H. Hampton. Most of the scripts include carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason books. Notes from the CBS Program Practices Department are also appended. The one script from The New Perry Mason represents an attempt to resurrect the Perry Mason Show with Monte Markham in the lead role. The revival lasted for only one season. Frankel co-produced the show with Art Seid.
Also included are scripts by Frankel of episodes for The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, My Friend Tony, as well as several Movie of the Week scripts, some of which were pilots for television series. There is also a script for an episode of the series, Concrete Cowboys, which was based on a Movie of the Week produced by Frankel.
Of the scripts for Movies of the Week, Murder in Music City, Nashville 99, Love's Dark Ride, and Reluctant Heroes aired. Nashville 99 became a series. "Wavelengths" and "Witch's Brew," written by others, were to be produced by Frankel.