Frank Tashlin was one of the foremost comedy writers of the 1950s and 1960s, providing screenplays for such performers as Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (and later, Lewis alone), Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and the Marx Brothers. His films were usually mild comedies about American life. Popular culture--movies, comic books, advertising--fascinated him and provided the inspiration for much of his work. There is a surreal quality to his humor; he came to screenwriting after many years as a cartoonist, bringing with him an exaggerated, visual sense of comedy.

Tashlin was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, but his family moved to Astoria in Queens, New York, when he was a child. His education ended with grammar school; by age thirteen he was making a living delivering newspapers and working for local merchants. His career break came in 1928, when he got a job running errands for Max Fleischer...