Elliott Arnold
Elliott Arnold was an American author and journalist, born on September 13, 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. He began his writing career at a young age, contributing to the Brooklyn Daily Times before graduating from New York University in 1934. Arnold served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, where he wrote official histories of American aviators, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Post-war, he became a prolific writer of Western and adventure novels, as well as screenplays, with notable works including "Blood Brother" and its adaptation "Broken Arrow," which won the Screen Writers Guild Prize. Arnold's writing was recognized for its nuanced portrayals of Native American characters and earned him several awards, including the Commonwealth Club of California's silver medals and the William Allen White Children's Book Award. He also ventured into young adult literature during the 1950s. Arnold was married five times and resided in multiple locations, including New York City and Beverly Hills. He passed away on May 13, 1980, in New York City.
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Subject Terms
Elliott Arnold
- Born: September 13, 1912
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
- Died: May 13, 1980
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Elliott Arnold was born on September 13, 1912, in Brooklyn, New York, to opera singer Jack Arnold and Gertrude Frank Arnold. He attended school in Brooklyn with his two sisters. When he was fifteen, Arnold started writing for the Brooklyn Daily Times. Studying to become a journalist, Arnold graduated from New York University in 1934 and then began working for the New York World-Telegram, preparing features and rewriting copy.
He resigned in 1942 to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Deployed to North Africa and Italy, Arnold prepared an official history of American aviators in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean Sweep: Air Stories from El Alamein to Rome, for Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker. General George C. Kenney ordered Arnold to write a history of American air forces in the South Pacific entitled Big Distance. During his military service, Arnold received a promotion to the rank of captain and was awarded a Bronze Star. After World War II, he joined the editorial staff of American Indian in 1948.
Arnold began writing books while he attended New York University, publishing his first novel, Two Loves, in 1934, the same year that he graduated. He consistently produced Western and adventure novels and screenplays from the 1930’s through the 1970’s. He wrote several nonfiction books, and he appropriated his wartime experiences for both his nonfiction and fiction. In the 1950’s, he began writing books for young adults, primarily adventure stories. Arnold also wrote short stories for periodicals, including Harper’s Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post.
Scholars noted Arnold’s nonstereotyped, well-developed characterizations of Native Americans in his novel Blood Brother and other Westerns. Arnold received three silver medals from the Commonwealth Club of California for his novels: the first in 1948 for Blood Brother, another in 1960 for Flight from Ashiya, and the third in 1968 for A Night of Watching. The latter novel also was honored with the National Conference of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Award in 1968. Arnold and Michael Blankfort’s screenplay, Broken Arrow, an adaptation of Blood Brother, won the 1951 Screen Writers Guild Prize. Arnold’s young adult novel, White Falcon, received the 1958 William Allen White Children’s Book Award.
Arnold was married five times and maintained homes in New York City, Tucson, Arizona, and Beverly Hills, California. He started collaborating with actorMarlon Brando to create a screenplay about Native Americans, but discontinued the project when he became ill. Several months later, he died on May 13, 1980, in New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.