Frank Joslyn Baum
| Frank Joslyn Baum | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 3, 1883 |
| Died | December 2, 1958 (aged 74) |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Alma mater |
Society for Ethical Culture Michigan Military School, Orchard Lake, Michigan Cornell University |
| Occupation | Lawyer, soldier, writer, film producer |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Louise Snow (m. 1906–?) Rosine Agnes Shafer Brubeck (m. 1932–34; her death) Margaret Elizabeth Ligon Turner (m. 1940–58; his death) |
| Parent(s) |
L. Frank Baum Maud Gage |
| Relatives |
Matilda Joslyn Gage (maternal grandmother) Henry Neal Baum (brother) Roger S. Baum (grandson) |
Frank Joslyn Baum (December 3, 1883 – December 2, 1958) was a lawyer, soldier, writer, and film producer, and the first president of The International Wizard of Oz Club.
He is best known as the author of To Please a Child (a biography of his father, L. Frank Baum) (1962) and The Laughing Dragon of Oz (1936). He was also involved in the production of Wizard of Oz (1925), and The Wizard of Oz (1933), for which he also received writing credit, after which he sold the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz film rights to Samuel Goldwyn.
His attempt to trademark the Oz name distanced him from the rest of his family. In addition, To Please a Child has been suspect since before it was published, as most of his family refused to confirm any details about his father's life, leading Baum to fabricate these details.
Baum was born December 3, 1883 to Lyman Frank Baum and Maud Gage Baum, their first son, who was known in the household by the nickname "Bunny". Like his brothers, Robert Stanton, Harry Neal, and Kenneth Gage, he attended the Society for Ethical Culture Sunday school, which taught morality without religion, as the Baums considered religion a mature decision. Despite his father's unflattering caricatures of the military, Baum had always desired to become a soldier, and he attended Michigan Military School in Orchard Lake, Michigan. He briefly attended Cornell University, studying law, and he would act as his parents' lawyer when they traveled abroad. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Philippines in 1904. He married Helen Louise Snow on June 27, 1906. His first notable contribution to the cinema was when he served as the projectionist for The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908). Although he could not have the control that writers such as William K. Everson, Yuri Tsivian and others have claimed that early cinema projectionists had, due to the presence of the filmmakers in the room each night, it was a foray into the cinema that would pave the way for things to come. He also worked briefly for his father's publisher, Reilly & Britton, worked in advertising in Chicago, and was the first member of the Baum family to move to the Los Angeles area.
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