Irving Wallace: 1916-1990

Irving Wallace was born on March 19, 1916 in Chicago. Both of his parents were born in Russia and had emigrated to the United States in their teens.

Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He attended Williams Institute, Berkeley, California, and Los Angeles City College. He started his career as a journalist at the age of fifteen, when his early texts appeared in newspapers and magazines.

His breakthrough as a novelist came with "The Chapman Report" in 1960. A screen adaptation of the book was made in 1962. After "The Chapman Report", Wallace published mostly popular novels, several of which have been made into films. Although Wallace was often scorned by serious critics, his 16 novels and 17 nonfiction works sold some 250 million copies around the world.

Wallace died of cancer on June 29th, 1990 in Los Angeles.