James Atlee Phillips

James Atlee Phillips was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to a wealthy family which later fell on hard times. He attended Texas University, Texas Christian University, and the University of Missouri. He began his writing career writing stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and Story. His first novel, The Outsiders, an exposé about the Dallas country club set, was published in the mid-1930s. He worked as a publicist in New York and wrote a detective novel in 1939. Among his early novels were The Shivering Chorus Girl (1942) and Suitable for Framing (1949). After Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the U.S. Marine and served as operations manager for China National Airlines in Rangoon, Burma. After the war, he was a senior staffer for Leatherneck Magazine, then spent some time in intelligence work. His brother, David Phillips, joined the CIA in 1950, and this influenced Phillips' life and writing. From 1947-1954 he ran Amphibian Airways in Burma. His first Joe Gall novel, Pagoda, was mostly autobiographical and based on these experiences, and was published in the 1950s. He was perhaps best known for his "Contract" series, written under the pseudonym Philip Atlee. He also wrote two screenplays, Big Jim McLain (1952), which was John Wayne's first independent production, and Thunder Road (1958), which starred Robert Mitchum. His novel "The White Wolverine Contract" won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1970. In all, he published 29 novels. At the time of his death he was working on his memoirs.