Roy McCardell

Roy Larcom McCardell (June 30, 1870 – after 1940) was an American journalist, scenarist, humorist and writer.

Early life Roy McCardell was born in 1870 in Hagerstown, Maryland. His father was the editor of the Hagerstown Mail. When his father became the editor of the Evening Times in Cumberland, Maryland, the family moved there, where Roy attended school until he was twelve. He then started writing for his father's newspaper before becoming a regular contributor to Puck, the leading American satirical magazine.

Career

McCardell moved to Birmingham, Alabama at age 17 to work as a reporter for the Age-Herald. Many of his contributions were reprinted in magazines, including Frank Leslie's Weekly. New York City newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane became aware of his writing, and offered him a position on the New York newspaper The Evening Sun. Along with his newspaper reporting, McCardell also provided serialized novels to the newspaper. He then moved on to the New York World and finally became a staff member of Puck. McCardell also worked as an editor for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the New York Morning Telegraph and the Metropolitan Magazine. He wrote a number of syndicated serialised articles, most famously the daily Jarr Family which appeared in several hundred newspapers. His best-known scenario was A Fool There Was (1915), popularizing the movie vampire. Many of his scenarios and his other writings won prizes in competitions held by Puck and Collier's Weekly. His scenario for a 1915 film serial, The Diamond from the Sky, won a $10,000 prize from the American Film Company. That film was exhibited in some 8,000 US theaters and also overseas, but no prints have survived to the present. She eloped at age 18 with a wealthy 30-year-old man. McCardell also had one other child, his daughter Dorothy.

Filmography Among the more than 1,000 scenarios McCardell wrote are the following movies and serials: 1914: The Awful Adventures of an Aviator, The Idler 1915: A Fool There Was 1915: The Diamond from the Sky, 30 episodes, now lost 1916: Walk This Way 1920: The Evil Eye, 15 episodes, now lost