Leslie McFarlane

Leslie McFarlane (born October 25, 1902 - died September 6, 1977, was a Canadian journalist, novelist, and screenwriter.

Born Charles Leslie McFarlane in Carleton Place, Ontario, he is most famous for writing the large majority of the very successful Hardy Boys book series using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

As a young man he worked in Sudbury, Ontario as a newspaper reporter then for a weekly paper in Toronto before taking a job at the Springfield Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts. While in the U.S., during 1926 and 1927 he freelanced as one of the authors using the pseudonym "Roy Rockwood" to write seven of the Dave Fearless serialized mystery novels. This led to his involvement with the Hardy Boys, a project on which he was the largest contributor, writing 19 of the first 25 books between 1927 and 1946. While still writing for the series for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, McFarlane returned to Canada to work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). As part of the NFB, in 1953 he was nominated for an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film for his documentary titled Herring Hunt. Moving to Toronto he wrote for CBC television and at the suggestion of his friend Lorne Greene, moved to Hollywood for a time to write scripts for the TV Western Bonanza in which Greene starred.

McFarlane also wrote the first four volumes of the Dana Girls series for the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.

The Leslie McFarlane Public School in Whitby, Ontario is named in his honour. His son, Brian McFarlane, is well known as a former commentator on Hockey Night in Canada.

Hardy Boy books by Leslie McFarlane:

Note:

The Secret Panel authorship also claimed by Harriet (Stratemeyer) Adams, daughter of publisher Edward Stratmeyer.
The Phantom Freighter was co-written with Amy McFarlane, his wife.