William M. Conselman

Who was William M. Conselman?

William Marien Conselman was an American screenwriter who also wrote newspaper comic strips under his Bill Conselman byline and sometimes under the pseudonym Frank Smiley.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Conselman arrived on the West Coast in 1920 and joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times as the assistant city editor. His play And Then What, staged by the San Diego Players, opened November 6, 1923 at Balboa Park's Yorick Theater.

Between 1921 and 1940, he was a screenwriter on 57 films. By 1936, he had an annual income of more than $60,000. In Hollywood, he often collaborated with writer Jack Woodford. Conselman was also a lyricist, and in 1928, he directed the film Four A.M.