Fran Striker

Fran Striker (1903 – September 4, 1962) was an American writer for radio and comics, best known for his contributions to The Lone Ranger.

Related Topics:
1903 - September 4 - 1962 - American - Radio - Comics - The Lone Ranger

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Born in Buffalo, New York, Striker attended the University of Buffalo but soon dropped out, first serving a brief stint in New York City with an amateur theatrical company, and then returning to Buffalo and joining the staff of radio station WERB, working as an announcer. He moved to WTAM in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, where he served as announcer, continuity writer, and wrote his first radio drama script, a biography of Stephen Foster. Lured back to WERB as station manager, Striker wrote material ranging from skits to half hour mysteries and Western scripts.

Related Topics:
Buffalo, New York - New York City - WTAM - Cleveland, Ohio - 1929 - Stephen Foster - Western

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Striker soon drifted to freelancing, creating and writing his own series and selling them to stations across the United States. He began a long association with station WXYZ in Detroit, which was trying to carve a name for itself as a producer of radio drama, creating and writing the early series Thrills of the Secret Service, Dr. Fang, and Warner Lester, Manhunter (which introduced Mike Axford, later a supporting character on The Green Hornet).

Related Topics:
WXYZ - Detroit - The Green Hornet

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In 1933, Striker began working on The Lone Ranger, single-handedly writing almost all of the early scripts (following two first attempts by WXYZ director James Jewell), eventually becoming head of the station's script department. Striker's earliest scripts were largely reworked from a prior series of his, called Covered Wagon Days. His chief contributions to the series, apart from writing the actual scripts, included the silver bullets and the creation of Tonto. However, by 1934, Striker was pressured by station owner George W. Trendle to sign over his rights to the scripts of the Lone Ranger, and everything he wrote in the future. This sparked long term controversy over his role in the creation of The Lone Ranger, extending as far as a 1960 television appearance by Striker on To Tell the Truth, which mentioned his role in the character's creation. Trendle fired Striker for a brief period in the 1940s, eventually rehiring him.

Related Topics:
1933 - James Jewell - Tonto - 1934 - George W. Trendle - 1960 - To Tell the Truth - 1940s

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Striker was extremely prolific (Jewell referred to him, in a backhanded compliment, as "the greatest hack writer who ever lived"), who in additon to churning out 156 Lone Ranger scripts a year, was writing The Green Hornet (built around the Lone Ranger's descendant, Britt Reid), a short-lived series called Ned Jordan secret agent, Challenge of the Yukon, and scripted various Lone Ranger novels, two movie serials, and the Lone Ranger comic strip. Striker's work as a comic writer extended to stints on The Green Hornet comic books and writing the 1945 newspaper strip The Sea Wolf.

Related Topics:
Challenge of the Yukon - Serials - Comic strip - 1945

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Striker's later work was mostly limited to stints on the television versions of The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Striker died in a car accident in 1962, at the age of 59, in the midst of moving with his wife and children. His final work was a historical novel, One More River, published posthumously.

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