Bill S. Ballinger

Bill S. Ballinger (William Sanborn Ballinger) was a prolific American author and screenwriter. Working in radio and advertising in the early 1940s, Ballinger wrote 81 radio scripts and produced The Dinah Shore Show, The Breakfast Club, and Lowell Thomas broadcasts. Ballinger was a frequent writer for American television with 150 teleplays to his name. He also wrote screenplays for two films. The author of 30 books, Ballinger also used the names B.S. Sanborn and Frederic Fryer. His most famous work was 1950s Portrait in Smoke that received a Les Grands Maîtres du Roman Policier Award and was filmed in 1956 as Wicked as they Come. His book, The Longest Second, was nominated in 1958 for an Edgar Award for the Best Mystery novel. - Wikipedia