Fundo - Leslie McFarlane fonds

Leslie McFarlane, journalist, author, screen writer, and director, was born in Carleton Place, Ontario on 25 September 1902. It was while he was working as a journalist that he began his career as a ghost writer for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. In 1927, using the pen name of Franklin W. Dixon, he began writing the Hardy Boys series. He also wrote other series for the syndicate using a variety of pen names including Carolyn Keene. He began writing plays for CBC radio by the late 1930s. In 1943 he moved to the National Film Board of Canada as a documentary film writer and director. Then, in 1958, he became head of the television drama script department at the CBC. He returned to writing children's books, including the successful McGonigle Scores!, in 1966. His autobiography, Ghost of the Hardy Boys, was published in 1976. McFarlane died on 6 September 1977 in Whitby, Ontario.