Francis Joseph Xavier Scully; (April 28, 1892 – June 23, 1964)[2][5] was an American journalist, author, humorist, and a regular columnist for the entertainment trade magazine Variety.

Frank Scully
Author Frank Scully (right) and confidence man Silas Newton (center)[1]
Born
Francis Joseph Xavier Scully

(1892-04-28)April 28, 1892
DiedJune 23, 1964(1964-06-23) (aged 72)[2]
Resting placeDesert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California[3]
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, ufologist
Employer(s)The Sun, Variety
SpouseAlice Scully (1909–1996;[4] his death) (married 1930)
AwardsKnight of the Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1956[5]

Career

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Scully studied journalism at Columbia University, was on the reporting staff at The New York Sun and was a contributor to Variety.[6] His books include Rogues' Gallery[7] and Fun In Bed: The Convalescent's Handbook.[8] Scully received screenwriting credit for the American version of the film Une fée... pas comme les autres (The Secret of Magic Island).[9]

Scully publicized the Aztec, New Mexico UFO hoax when, in 1949, he wrote two columns in Variety claiming that dead extraterrestrial beings were recovered from a flying saucer crash.[10]

Scully's 1950 book Behind the Flying Saucers expanded on the themes of flying saucer crashes and dead extraterrestrials, with Scully describing one of his sources as having "more degrees than a thermometer".[11] In that book, he promoted the pseudohistorical claims of Paxson Hayes that prehistoric giants inhabited the Americas.[12]

In 1952 and 1956, True magazine published articles by the San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Philip Cahn[13] that purported to expose Scully's sources as confidence tricksters who had hoaxed Scully.[14] Scully's 1963 book, In Armour Bright, also included material about alleged flying saucer crashes and dead extraterrestrials.[15]

Publications

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Books

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  • Scully, Frank (1932). Fun in Bed: The Convalescent's Handbook. Preface by Logan Clendening. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 2430955.
  • —— (1934). More Fun in Bed: The Convalescent's Handbook. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 2629757.
  • —— (1936). Bedside Manna: The Third Fun in Bed Book. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 328577.
  • —— (1938). Just What the Doctor Ordered. Fun in Bed (Series Four). New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 3317354.
  • —— (1943). Rogues' Gallery: Profiles of My Eminent Contemporaries. Hollywood: Murray & Gee, Inc. OCLC 1661190.
  • —— (1950). Behind the Flying Saucers. New York: Henry Holt and Company. OCLC 1467735.
  • —— (1951). Blessed Mother Goose: Favorite Nursery Rhymes Retold for Today's Children. Illustrated by Keye Luke. New York: Greenberg. OCLC 6248166.
  • —— (1951). Blessed Mother Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Today's Children. Illustrated by Keye Luke. Hollywood: House-Warven. OCLC 27893933.
  • —— (1951). The Best of Fun in Bed. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 687125.
  • —— (1955). Cross My Heart. New York: Greenberg. OCLC 2570206.
  • —— (1962). This Gay Knight: An Autobiography of a Modern Chevalier. Introduction by Dale Francis (1st ed.). Philadelphia: Chilton Co., Book Division. OCLC 1376376.
  • —— (1963). In Armour Bright: Cavalier Adventures of My Short Life Out of Bed. Introduction by Jack Paar (1st ed.). Philadelphia: Chilton Books. OCLC 1393335.

Contributions, introductions, forewords

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  • Tchirikova, Olga Wassilieff (1934). Scully, Frank (ed.). Sandrik, Child of Russia. Introduction by Grand Duke Alexander. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. OCLC 1522799.
  • Kirkus, Virginia (1935). Scully, Frank (ed.). Fun in Bed For Children: First Aid in Getting Well Cheerfully. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 4054743.
  • —— (1935). Scully, Frank (ed.). Junior Fun in Bed: Making a Holiday of Convalescence. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 5859811.
  • Scully, Frank (1940). "The Beaut from Montana". In Gingrich, Arnold (ed.). The Bedside Esquire. New York: Tudor Publishing Company. OCLC 706396.
  • Sper, Norman (1942). Norman Sper's Football Almanac [Eastern section, 1942]. Introduction by Frank Scully. New York: Greenberg, Inc. OCLC 31249461.
  • Francis, Dale (1960). Kneeling in the Bean Patch. Forewords by Frank Scully. New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons. OCLC 3026310.
  • Walker, Gerald, ed. (1963). My Most Memorable Christmas. A Pocket Book special, 10021. Anecdote contributed by Frank Scully. New York: Pocket Books. OCLC 4182787.

Feature films

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  • Scully, Frank (Writer (1964 U.S. version)) (1957). Une fée... pas comme les autres (in French). France/Italy: Cine del Duco, Del Duca Films.[16]

Archives

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Severson, Thor (October 14, 1952). "Little Men Due Soon: Flying Saucer Landing Forecast". The Denver Post. Photograph by David Mathias. Denver, Colorado.
  2. ^ a b "Frank Scully, Columnist, Dies; Defied Disabilities With Jests". The New York Times. June 25, 1964.
  3. ^ "Frank Scully, Author of Cheer Books for Invalids, Dies at 72". Desert Sun. June 25, 1964.
  4. ^ "Alice Mellbye Pihl Scully". Variety. New York. December 3, 1996. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Scully, Frank. "Frank Skully". Catholic Authors. Retrieved March 28, 2013. Originally published by Walter Romig in The Book of Catholic Authors
  6. ^ "A LIFETIME OF ILLNESS Frank Scully, Author of Cheer Books for Invalids, Dies at 72". California Digital Newspaper Collection. DL Consulting. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  7. ^ Scully, Frank (1972) [1943]. Rogues' Gallery: Profiles of my eminent contemporaries. Freeport: Books for Liberties Press. LCCN 72004759. OCLC 333722. OL 5285843M.
  8. ^ Frank Scully, ed. (1932). Fun in bed; the convalescent's handbook. Simon and Schuster. LCCN 32033431. OCLC 1035091094. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  9. ^ "The Secret of Magic Island". TCM Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  10. ^ Scully, Frank (October 12, 1949). "One Flying Saucer Lands In New Mexico". Variety. New York.
    - Scully, Frank (November 23, 1949). "Flying Saucers Dismantled, Secrets May Be Lost". Variety. New York.
    - Scully, Frank (November 23, 1949). "Scully's Scrapbook". Variety. p. 25.
  11. ^ Reece, Gregory L. (2007). UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture. London; New York: I. B. Tauris. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-845-11451-0.
  12. ^ Scully, Frank (July 4, 1950). "Behind the Flying Saucers". Holt – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Cahn, J.P. (September 1952). "The Flying Saucers and the Mysterious Little Men" (PDF). True. pp. 17–19, 102–112. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
    - Cahn, J.P. (August 1956). "Flying Saucer Swindlers" (PDF). True. pp. 36–37, 69–72. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  14. ^ Bartholomew, Robert E.; Howard, George S. (1998). UFOs & Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery. Amherst, New Yok: Prometheus Books. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-573-92200-5.
  15. ^ Scully, Frank (1963). In Armour Bright: Cavalier Adventures of My Short Life Out of Bed. Introduction by Jack Paar (1st ed.). Philadelphia: Chilton Books. OCLC 1393335.
  16. ^ Une fée... pas comme les autres (1957) at IMDb
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