Tony Kenrick Explained

Tony Kenrick
Birth Date:24 August 1935
Birth Place:Sydney, Australia
Occupation:Novelist
Genre:Thriller fiction, caper story
Years Active:1970-1991
Spouse:Joan May Wells (b. April 13, 1960)
Children:2, Melanie and Timothy

Tony Kenrick (born 1935) is an Australian-born writer of thriller fiction and caper comedies. Two of his novels were adapted into movies, and several more were optioned.[1]

In a typical Kenrick novel, a protagonist sets out to make some easy money, more or less legally, but winds up helping to save the day against really dangerous villains. Some of his books contain elements of science fiction, most notably The Night-Time Guy (1979) and Glitterbug (1991), which feature protagonists who are not scientists but find themselves the victims of science-fictional circumstances. His comical crime novels have been compared with those of Donald E. Westlake.[2] [3] [4]

Kenrick's 1975 novel Stealing Lillian, in which a con artist is enlisted to stage a kidnapping to capture a gang of terrorists, was included in the Tozai Mystery Best 100 list of 1985.[5] Art Bourgeau called it a "classic" in The Mystery Lover's Companion (1986).[6]

Career

Kenrick began work as a copywriter, and later an advertising executive, in Australia, before moving abroad and writing fiction as well. His work brought him and his family to Toronto, New York City, San Francisco, London, Es Capdellà in Mallorca,[7] [8] and Weston, Connecticut.

Advertising

Kenrick worked in the field of advertising before also turning his hand to writing fiction. After some years working in Australia, he was hired at the New York firm of Kenyon & Eckhardt as a copywriter in 1967.[9]

One of his accounts was the 1980s ad campaign for Birds Eye frozen foods. With colleague Vernon Howe, he wrote the TV commercial slogans "It can make a dishonest woman of you" for their Chicken Pies, and "When you've got to make it something fast" for their Beef Burgers. A colleague recalled that Kenrick wrote his novels at his desk during the lunch hour.[10]

Writing career

He published his first novel, The Only Good Body's a Dead One, in 1970, and became a free-lance novelist in 1972.

Kenrick developed links to the film industry in the 1980s. He wrote the screenplay for his third novel, Two for the Price of One, which became Nobody's Perfekt, starring Gabe Kaplan.[11] He said in a 1981 interview, "Of the eleven books I've written, eight have been optioned for movies or television. But until now, none of them has ever gotten past the deal stage and onto the screen. I was delighted to do my first screenplay, and see one of my books turned into a movie in the process." Screenwriters John Kohn and Robert Bentley adapted his 1985 novel Faraday's Flowers into Shanghai Surprise, which starred Sean Penn and Madonna. Both movies were poorly received.[12] [13]

He sold the film rights for other novels, including A Tough One to Lose and Stealing Lillian.[14] [15] 20th Century Fox purchased The Seven Day Soldiers, to be directed by Robert Aldrich and to star Steve McQueen, but the project fell through.[16] [17] Tri-Star Pictures bought rights to the science fiction novel Glitterbug, to star Bruce Willis.[18] In 1998, independent producers John H. Williams and Barnaby Thompson (calling it "laugh-out-loud funny")[19] optioned Kenrick's unpublished novel Made for Each Other (re-titled Fit to be Tied), a road comedy about two unhappily married couples who find themselves face-to-face with ex-lovers during a bungled heist and a hostage situation.[20] [21] Despite film industry enthusiasm for Kenrick's works, none of these movies were produced.

According to the American Film Institute, Kenrick was hired to write the screenplay for the film Chattanooga Choo Choo, but he is not credited onscreen.[22]

Under the pen name Joe De Mers, he wrote a play entitled The Return (1996). The University of Queensland's AustLit database reports, "Tony Kenrick is also the author of Up Against the House, which cannot be traced, and several screenplays."

In a review of The Night-Time Guy, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "When a suspense writer can swing out with guts, endearing sarcasm, and raw bravado the way that Tony Kenrick can, the most farfetched plotting can be forgiven — even enjoyed for its sheer outrageousness. ... Knockdown rough stuff — not for the squeamish — but Kenrick (The Seven Day Soldiers) knows how to keep the atmosphere somehow likable, light, and humane as the nonstop physical abuses hurtle along."[23]

Personal life

Born Anthony Arthur Kenrick in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on August 23, 1935,[24] Tony Kenrick is the son of Arthur Francis Cohen, an engineer, and Freda Kenrick, a mind reader. He served in the Royal Australian Navy in 1953. He married Joan May Wells, a Welsh painter, and their two children are Melanie and Timothy.

Bibliography

Filmography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tony Kenrick, 1935- . 1999 . Crime & Mystery Fiction . February 19, 2024.
  2. Web site: A Tough One to Lose (1972) by Tony Kenrick . Moonlight Detective . Beneath the Stains of Time . December 28, 2021 . ...abandoned his career in advertising in 1972 to become a full-time writer specializ[ing] in comedic capers and heist thrillers – which earned him a favorable comparison to the work of Donald E. Westlake. . March 31, 2024.
  3. Web site: Welcome Back, Gabe Kaplan Nobody's Perfekt! . April 22, 2020 . March 31, 2024 . Cult Film Alley . Kenrick's work has been compared to Donald E Westlake... as both are authors of comedy heists... While Kenrick is more farcical as in the case of Nobody's Perfekt, we mustn't forget Westlake's similarly farcical Bank Shot (1974) which was based on one of his novels and stars George C. Scott. . en-US.
  4. Kelley . George . July 1978 . The Caper Novels of Tony Kenrick . Guy M. Townsend . The Mystery Fancier . 2 . 4 . 3–4 . 978-1-4344-0367-4 . If Donald E. Westlake is the master of the comic caper novel, then Tony Kenrick ranks as an excellent sorcerer's apprentice. In six wild books, Kenrick displays a talent for the funny and the surreal. . February 18, 2024.
  5. Web site: Tozai Top 100 Western and Eastern Crime Novels . March 31, 2024.
  6. Book: Sobin, Roger M. . 2011 . The Essential Mystery Lists: For Readers, Collectors, and Librarians . Scottsdale, AZ . Poisoned Pen Press . 336 . 9781459613751.
  7. Book: Kenrick, Tony . 1976 . The Seven Day Soldiers . London . Michael Joseph . Dust jacket . Australian-born Tony Kenrick lives with his wife and two children in Capdella, Mallorca where he is currently working on his seventh book..
  8. Book: Kenrick, Tony . The Chicago Girl . 1976 . Putnam's Sons . Book Club . New York . Dust jacket . After protracted stays in Toronto, New York, San Francisco and London Mr. Kenrick now makes his home in Mallorca, Spain, with his wife and two children. He spent his formative years in Sydney, Australia, where he was born, as far as he can remember, in either 1935 or 1945..
  9. December 25, 1967 . Fates & Fortunes . . 27 . Washington, D.C. . Broadcasting . April 6, 2024.
  10. Web site: Dye . Dave . Hands Up - Who's Heard Of... Geoffrey Seymour? . July 17, 2019 . DaveDye.com . April 6, 2024.
  11. Web site: Nobody's Perfekt (1981) . March 31, 2024 . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . en-US.
  12. Web site: Nobody's Perfekt (1981) . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . en-US . Nobody's Perfekt was listed in a Dec 1981 Rolling Stone article titled 'Big Bucks, Big Losers: Twenty-four Films that Bombed in 1981.' . June 8, 2024.
  13. Web site: Shanghai Surprise (1986) . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . en-US . The film's budget was $15 million... A 23 Oct 1986 Rolling Stone article noted that the film fared poorly in its initial release in 400 theaters in mid-sized cities across the country, earning just over $1 million after three weeks. Studio executives released the picture in 400 additional theaters in major markets on 19 Sep 1986. The 'unusual release pattern' was an effort to delay the expected poor reviews. A 22 Dec 1986 People stated that the picture earned $2.3 million in its domestic release. . June 8, 2024.
  14. Book: Kenrick, Tony . 1975 . Stealing Lillian . New York . David McKay . Dust jacket.
  15. Web site: Stealing Lillian . March 31, 2024 . . en-US.
  16. Web site: Hindes . Andrew . "Brides" scribes try "Other" . July 8, 1998 . Variety . February 18, 2024.
  17. Book: Kenrick, Tony . 1976 . The Seven Day Soldiers . London . Michael Joseph . Dust jacket.
  18. Book: Kenrick, Tony . 1991 . Glitterbug . New York . Carroll & Graf . Dust jacket.
  19. Web site: Fleming . Michael . Fragile, Vanguard pact . Sep 18, 1998 . Variety . Barnaby Thompson and Uri Fruchtman's Fragile Films has teamed up with John Williams' Vanguard Films to option Tony Kenrick's novel Made for Each Other... Thompson said: "I've been a longtime fan of Preston Sturges, and when I read this book, I thought it could make a great modern-day equivalent to the films I have loved by the master of character, heart and comedy. The book has some laugh-out-loud funny set pieces and a great romantic comedy premise." The author was repped by Innovative Artists. . February 18, 2024.
  20. Web site: Lyons . Charles . Drazen set to helm 'Fit' . Nov 30, 1999 . Variety . February 18, 2024.
  21. Web site: Gunn . Ellston . Elston Gunn's Weekly Recap . December 4, 1999 . . April 6, 2024.
  22. Web site: Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984) . March 31, 2024 . AFI Catalog of Feature Films . en-US.
  23. Web site: The Nighttime Guy . 1979 . Kirkus Reviews . February 17, 2024.
  24. Web site: 2006 . Tony Kenrick . AustLit . University of Queensland . March 31, 2024.

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