William Woolfolk

William "Bill" Woolfolk (June 25, 1917 – July 20, 2003) was born in 1917, the son of William (a theatrical manager) and Mary (an actress; maiden name, Lyon) Woolfolk. Bill Woolfolk was an American novelist, television writer and comic book author who wrote stories for many popular wartime comic-book characters, including Captain Marvel and Blackhawk. Bill Woolfolk was known for his range of writing output, having achieved success in the areas of comic books, novels, and television screenwriting. He died of congestive heart failure on July 20, 2003, in a Syracuse, NY, hospital at the age of 86.

The author’s 19 books of fiction and nonfiction sold more than 6 million copies and included eight Book of the Month Club selections. Yet he never became well-known in literary circles. Woolfolk, who sometimes wrote under pseudonyms, humorously attributed his anonymity to his remarkable versatility.^[1]

Woolfolk began his career as an advertising copywriter from 1938-40, then as a freelance writer for magazines from 1940-42, after graduating from New York University. He was lured into writing for television by his friend, Reginald Rose, author of the screenplay “Twelve Angry Men,” for the television series “The Defenders,” starring E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father and son lawyers. Woolfolk served as story editor and chief scriptwriter for the show, which ran from 1961 to 1965, and two of his scripts -- “A Book for Burning,” about censorship, and “All the Silent Voices,” about birth control -- were nominated for Emmy Awards.^[2]