Charles Fulton Oursler was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an notable author of mysteries and detective fiction.

Life

Oursler grew up in Baltimore, the poor son of a city transit worker. His childhood passions were reading and stage magic. He was raised in a devout Baptist family, but at fifteen he declared himself an agnostic. While still in his teens, he got a reporter's job for the Baltimore American and married Rose Karger. They had two children, but the marriage ended in divorce.

Oursler moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to edit a music trade magazine. He freelanced for a variety of publications early on. His short stories appeared in The Black Cat, Detective Story Magazine

Detective Story Magazine

Detective Story Magazine was an American magazine published by Street & Smith from October 15, 1915 to Summer, 1949 . The first pulp magazine devoted to detective fiction, it consisted of short stories and serials....

, The Thrill Book, and especially Mystery Magazine. Many of his stories, like "The Magician Detective" (Mystery Magazine), incorporated magicians and magic into the plots. In the 1920s Oursler aided Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...

 in his crusade against fraudulent mediums. He even crusaded himself, under the pseudonym Samri Frikell.

He was Supervising Editor of the various magazines and newspapers published by Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden was an influential American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories...

 from 1921-41. Macfadden urged him to drop the "Charles" from his name. He became editor of Liberty

Liberty (1924-1950)

Liberty was a weekly, general-interest magazine, originally priced at five cents and subtitled, "A Weekly for Everybody." It was launched in 1924 by McCormick-Patterson, the publisher until 1931, when it was taken over by Bernarr Macfadden until 1942. At one time it was said to be "the second...

after Macfadden acquired it in 1931. Oursler left Macfadden Publications

Macfadden Publications

Macfadden Communications Group is a publisher of business magazines. It has a historical link with a company started in 1898 by Bernarr Macfadden that was one of the largest magazine publishers of the twentieth century.-Macfadden Publications:...

 shortly after Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden was an influential American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories...

 was ousted from the company. Ourler's tenure with the company was continuous from 1921-41, except for a brief period following the success of The Spider (1928).

Oursler wrote a number of novels, including Sandalwood (1925), Stepchild of the Moon (1926) and The World's Delight (1929). He also wrote detective stories and magazine articles under the pseudonym Anthony Abbot, as well as several plays, the most famous of which was the gimmick-filled The Spider (1928), co-written with Lowell Brentano and later filmed twice, in 1931 and 1945

The Spider (film)

The Spider is an American crime film noir directed by Robert D. Webb. The drama features Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe, and Kurt Kreuger.-Cast:* Richard Conte as Chris Conlon* Faye Marlowe as Delilah 'Lila' Neilsen, alias Judith Smith...

. The great success of the play attracted four plagiarism suits, which were successfully defended by Oursler's private attorney, Arthur Garfield Hays

Arthur Garfield Hays

Arthur Garfield Hays was a lawyer born in Rochester, New York. His father and mother, both of German descent, belonged to prospering families in the clothing manufacturing industry...

.

In 1925, Oursler married Grace Perkins, who had been raised Catholic, but had left the Church in her teens. They practiced no religion and did not raise their children in any faith. Grace Perkins, a former actress, was a prodigious contributor to the Macfadden magazines. Several of her novels were made into films.

In 1935, the Oursler family toured the Middle East and spent a week in the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

. On the journey home, Oursler started writing a book titled A Skeptic in the Holy Land. "I started out being very skeptical," he wrote later, "but in the last chapter I almost converted." He assumed that once the book was published, he would forget about religion, but perceiving the growing threat of Nazism

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 and Communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, he found himself increasingly drawn to Christian ethics

Christian ethics

The first recorded meeting on the topic of Christian ethics, after Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Great Commandment, and Great Commission , was the Council of Jerusalem , which is seen by most Christians as agreement that the New Covenant either abrogated or set aside at least some of the Old...

. Astounded at how little people knew about the life and teaching of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, he decided that he would write the story of Jesus and "try and make it as interesting as a serial story in a popular magazine". He would call it The Greatest Story Ever Told.

In 1943, Oursler was received into the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. The following year, his son was converted to the Catholic faith, and his wife returned to the faith the year after that. His daughter converted in 1948. The Greatest Story Ever Told was published in 1949. It was followed by The Greatest Book Ever Written in 1951, and The Greatest Faith Ever Known, completed by his daughter, April Oursler Armstrong, and posthumously published in 1953. The film, The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Greatest Story Ever Told is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens and distributed by United Artists. It is a retelling of the story of Jesus Christ, from the Nativity through the Resurrection. This film is notable for its large ensemble cast and for being the last...

, based on Oursler's book, was released in 1965.

Oursler also wrote, as Abbot, the Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

article that was made into the movie Boomerang!

Boomerang (1947 film)

Boomerang! is a 1947 film based on the true story of a vagrant who was accused of murder, only to be found innocent through the efforts of the prosecutor...

(1947).

Another of his well-known books was Father Flanagan of Boy's Town, the story of Father Edward J. Flanagan's work with young men. The book was co-authored by Fulton's son Will Oursler

Will Oursler

Will Oursler was an American author, lecturer and radio commentator, and the son of noted novelist and playwright Fulton Oursler. He frequently wrote and spoke on religious and inspirational subjects....

, also a noted writer, and was later adapted into the movie Boys Town (1938), starring Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

.

Fulton Oursler died in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1952, while halfway through writing his autobiography.

As Anthony Abbot

• About the Murder of Geraldine Foster (1930) aka The Murder of Geraldine Foster
• About the Murder of the Clergyman's Mistress (1931) aka The Crime of the Century, The Murder of the Clergyman's Mistress, The Mysterious Murder of the Blonde Play-Girl
• About the Murder of the Night Club Lady (1931) aka The Night Club Lady, The Murder of the Night Club Lady
• About the Murder of the Circus Queen (1932) aka The Murder of a Circus Queen
• About the Murder of A Startled Lady (1935) aka The Murder of a Startled Lady
• About the Murder of A Man Afraid of Women (1937) aka The Murder of a Man Afraid of Women
• The Creeps (1939) aka Murder at Buzzards Bay
• The Shudders (1943) aka Deadly Secret

Plays

• Sandalwood (Original, Play, Drama) Sep 22, 1926 - Oct 1926
• The Spider (Original, Play, Mystery, Melodrama) Mar 22, 1927 - Dec 1927
• Behold This Dreamer (Original, Play, Drama) Oct 31, 1927 - Dec 1927
• The Spider (Revival, Play, Melodrama, Mystery) Feb 27, 1928 - Mar 1928
• All the King's Men (Original, Play, Comedy, Drama) Feb 4, 1929 - Mar 4, 1929
• The Walking Gentleman (Original, Play) May 7, 1942 - May 12, 1942

External links

• Fulton Oursler. "The Road to Damascus", EWTN
• Anthony Abbot bibliography at Classic Crime Fiction
• Biography at All About Magicians