Biography

Frank Ramsay Adams (July 7, 1883 – October 8, 1963) was an American author, screenwriter, composer, and newspaper reporter. He was born on July 7, 1883, in Morrison, Illinois. Educated at the University of Chicago, Adams worked as a reporter for several Chicago newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, City Press, Chicago Daily News, and the Chicago Herald-Examiner. From 1916 to 1932, he was manager of the Nufer-Adams Playhouse (which he cofounded with lumberman J.J. Nufer and which since 1973 has been known as Howmet Playhouse) and owner of the Sylvan Beach Resort Co. in Whitehall, Michigan.Adams wrote plays, musical comedies, and lyrics for popular songs, such as "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now". He composed the stage scores for the musicals "The Time, the Place, and the Girl", "The Girl Question", "A Stubborn Cinderella", "The Goddess of Liberty", and "The Price of Tonight". His chief musical collaborators included Joe Howard, Harold Orlob and Will Hough.Adams wrote several novels, some of which were made into films. His short stories were published in several magazines, including Smart Set, Cosmopolitan, Black Cat, and Illustrated Detective. He also had a successful career as a screenwriter in Hollywood, writing the stories for such films as Stage Struck (1925), Almost a Lady (1925), and The Cowboy and the Lady (1938), which starred Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon.

On December 1, 1931, he married Lorna D. Margrave. The couple had one child. During World War II, Adams fought in France as a lieutenant in a United States Army artillery unit. Adams died October 8, 1963, at White Lake, Michigan. He was 80 years old.