Oscar Fraley

Oscar Fraley (August 2, 1914 – January 6, 1994) was an American sports writer and author, perhaps best known, with Eliot Ness, as the co-author of the American memoirThe Untouchables.^[1]

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fraley grew up across the Delaware River in Woodbury, New Jersey.^[1][2] He graduated from Woodbury Junior-Senior High School in 1934, and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2010.^[3]

Fraley worked for United Press International (UPI) as a sports reporter from 1940 to 1965. During his time at the UPI, he penned the Today's Sports Parade column which at its peak appeared in 450 newspapers nationwide.^[4] Over the course of his lifetime, Fraley penned 31 books, including Hoffa: The Real Story (Stein and Day, 1975).^[1]

In 1956, Fraley was introduced to Ness while working as a reporter for UPI. It was this encounter that served as the inspiration for The Untouchables (1957).^[1] By 1957, Fraley had written most of the proofs for the manuscript of the book. Ness read these proofs shortly before his own death that same year, and the book was released a month after Ness's death.^[5]

The Untouchables sold 1.5 million copies and served as the basis for the television series and movie of the same name.^[1] This book, among Fraley's other books about the Untouchables, was heavily spiced with fiction, including fictional characters and events in order to make the books more appealing to a general audience. The 21-page manuscript that Ness wrote for the book was a more trustworthy source and only included the real events that Ness experienced during his career. Ness's manuscript is housed in the archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.^[6]

El libro fue adaptado a múltiples medios e inspiró muchas obras adicionales . Las adaptaciones homónimas más conocidas incluyen la serie de televisión de 1959 Los Intocables protagonizada por Robert Stack como Ness y narrada por Walter Winchell , la película de 1987 Los Intocables de Brian De Palma protagonizada por Kevin Costner como Ness y con la participación de Sean Connery y Robert De Niro , y la efímera serie de televisión de 1993 Los Intocables .

Oscar Fraley falleció el 6 de enero de 1994 en Fort Lauderdale , en el Hospital General de Broward . La causa fue insuficiencia cardíaca tras una cirugía por una hernia estrangulada . ^{[ 1 ]}

• Libros de Oscar Fraley en Amazon.com