Leslie Waller

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Leslie Waller, author, 1923-current

Leslie Elson Waller, son of Ukranian immigrants, was born in Chicago, IL, April 1, 1923. He suffered from ambliopia and polio mylitis as a child, but graduated from Hyde Park High School by the age of 16. He was interested in writing from an early age, and was a police reporter, before he went to Wilson Junior College. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 and continued to write in the public relations division, never leaving the US. His first published novel was Show Me the Way. He married Louise Hetzel and moved to New York City, where his second novel, Phoenix Island, was published in 1953. The couple had 2 children and divorced in 1968. He married Patricia Mahen the same year, and began traveling around the world, starting with a Roman honeymoon. Waller worked as a public relations account executive at Harshe-Rotman and Druck in New York City, servicing a variety of accounts, including Hertz Rent-a-Car. In the meantime, he continued to write novels. His organized crime trilogy, The Banker, The Family and The American garnered recognition, landing the last title on the New York Times best seller list. Waller became known as a go-to man for novelizations and produced the novels for Dog Day Afternoon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Falcon Crest.