WILLIAM KARL THOMAS, biography

William Karl Thomas was born 1/25/33 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a small Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about in his works. Thomas' mother, Katherine Schmidt, was a classically trained violinist from New Orleans, and his father, Erle Thomas, was a Canadian wholesale florist. His childhood is told in his memoir The Genteel Poor. In 1951 Thomas married his former high school teacher and, after a four year childless marriage, was divorced.

His early career included being a nightclub pianist in New Orleans French Quarter and a USAF military correspondent in Korea during the Korean Conflict. His West Coast career included collaborating with Frank Ray Perellill who wrote or directed 20 films, and collaborating with Lenny Bruce on 3 screenplays and Bruce's first 3 comedy albums, a 10 year collaboration described in Thomas' memoir "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," available in English and Japanese editions.

Thomas spent 20 years in Hollywood as a screen writer, cinematographer, industrial film producer, photographer, journalist, private investigator, public relations executive, and occasionally a ghost writer of biographies and screenplays for producers and celebrities. His work in these fields led him on extended six month periods in Tucson, New Orleans, Mexico, and Jamaica, West Indies.

Thomas' subsequent books include: The Josan and the Jee,, based on his year in Korea; Cleo, based his work in the Civil Rights era; Hollywood Tales from the Outer Fringe, based on his work in the film industry; aThe Reluctant Hollywood P.I., based on his work as a private investigator, The Genteel Poor, his childhood memoir; A Place For Us, the biography of a disabled activist; The Candy Butcher, the biography of his collaborator Frank Ray Perilli; The Piano Lover, a show biz trilogy based on his years as a cocktail pianist and which includes the script and score of an original new musical; and Immortal, his first science fiction novel.

William Karl Thomas currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he occasionally teaches writing and film production at a local community college, and continues work on a variety of book, film, and media projects.

A sampling of photography by William Karl Thomas

RETURN TO BOOK LIST