Mark Frost

American novelist, screenwriter, and film and television producer (born 1953)

This article is about the novelist, screenwriter, producer and director. For other people named Mark Frost, see Mark Frost (disambiguation).

Mark Frost

Born|  (1953-11-25) November 25, 1953 (age 71)
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Pen name| Eric Bowman[nb 1]
Occupation|

* Novelist
* screenwriter
* film producer
* television producer
* director

Nationality| American
Education| Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Genre|

* Mystery
* supernatural

Subject| American sports history
Years active| 1975 (1975)–present
Notable works|

* Twin Peaks
* Hill Street Blues
* The List of Seven
* The Six Messiahs

Spouse| Lynn Frost
Children| 1
Relatives|

* Warren Frost (father)
* Scott Frost (brother)
* Lindsay Frost (sister)
* Lucas Giolito (nephew)

Website
bymarkfrost.com

Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executive story editor of Hill Street Blues (1982–1985). He also directed the 1992 film Storyville. He has also published novels beginning with The List of Seven (1993) as well as several non-fiction works, including The Greatest Game Ever Played (2002), which was adapted as a 2005 film.

## Early life

[edit]

Mark Frost was born on November 25, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York City,[2] to Mary Virginia Calhoun and actor Warren Frost. He is the elder brother of actress Lindsay Frost and writer and photographer Scott Frost.[3] During his childhood, Frost was raised in Los Angeles, California[1] and spent his adolescence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he attended Marshall-University High School.[4] As a high-school student, he spent two years on an internship program studying and working at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater.[2]

Frost subsequently enrolled in Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, studying acting, directing and playwriting.[1] During his time in college, he worked as a member of the lighting crew on PBS' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood alongside actor Michael Keaton.[4] Frost graduated from CMU in 1975 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[5] After his graduation, he returned to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where he was a literary associate until 1978.[6]

## Career

[edit]

Frost was a writer for the NBC television series Hill Street Blues. He co-created the ABC television series Twin Peaks with David Lynch. The show developed from the initial setup of Lynch having been hired by Warner Bros. to develop a film based on the life of Marilyn Monroe that saw Lynch and Frost write a screenplay. While it didn't lead anywhere, they became good friends and it was Lynch who eventually got an "idea of a small-town thing", before Frost expressed interest in doing "a sort of Dickensian story about multiple lives in a contained area that could sort of go perpetually." First pitched during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, the show eventually premiered in 1990. They maintained control of the show for the first season but each had varying control over the second season, in which both later expressed regret at resolving the murder. The show first ended on June 10, 1991; Frost was not involved with the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992).[7][8][9] They then developed On the Air, which aired from June 20 to July 4, 1992. He co-wrote and directed the film Storyville, co-wrote Fantastic Four (2005) and wrote The Greatest Game Ever Played, based on his 2002 book of the same name.[2]

He has written several books on golf, including The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever, about a 1956 match pitting pros Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson against amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, and The Grand Slam, about the 1930 golf season of Bobby Jones. His fictional works include The List of Seven, The Six Messiahs, and The Second Objective.

Frost returned to co-write the third season of Twin Peaks alongside Lynch that aired in 2017.

## Personal life

[edit]

Frost has lived in Ojai, California, since 2011 with his wife Lynn and their son, Travis.[2]

His nephew is Major League Baseball player Lucas Giolito.[10]

## Bibliography

[edit]

### Fiction

[edit]

* The List of Seven (1993)
* The Six Messiahs (1995)
* Before I Wake (1997)[nb 1]
* The Second Objective (2009)
* The Paladin Prophecy (2012)
* The Paladin Prophecy 2: Alliance (2013)
* The Paladin Prophecy 3: Rogue (2015)
* The Secret History of Twin Peaks (2016)
* Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier (2017)

### Non-fiction

[edit]

* The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story (2002)
* The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf (2006)
* The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever (2007)
* Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series (2009)

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Credit  | Notes

|
|
|

1987  | The Believers | Writer and associate producer  | Uncredited cameo: Locker Room Cop
Scared Stiff | Co-writer  |
No Man's Land | Writer  | Uncredited
1990  | Nightbreed | Writer  | Uncredited
1992  | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Executive producer  |
Storyville | Director and co-writer  |
Once Upon a Time | Executive producer  | Documentary film
2005  | Fantastic Four | Co-writer  |
The Greatest Game Ever Played | Writer and producer  | Adaptation of Frost's book of the same name
2007  | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | Co-writer  |

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Credit  | Notes

|
|
|

1975  | Lucas Tanner | Writer  |
Sunshine | Writer  |
The Six Million Dollar Man | Writer  | 2 episodes
1982  | Gavilan | Writer  | 2 episodes
1982–1985  | Hill Street Blues | Writer, story editor and executive story editor  | 28 episodes (as writer)
21 episodes (as story editor)
22 episodes (as executive story editor)
1986  | The Equalizer | Writer  | 2 episodes
1990–1991  | Twin Peaks | Co-creator, writer, director and executive producer  | 11 episodes (as writer)
"Episode 7" (as director)
Uncredited cameo appearances: "Pilot" (voice only) and "Episode 8"
1990  | American Chronicles | Creator, writer, director and executive producer  | 13 episodes (as writer)
Episode: "Farewell to the Flesh" (as director)
1992  | On the Air | Co-creator, writer and executive producer  | 2 episodes (as writer)
1998  | The Repair Shop | Creator, writer and executive producer  | Unaired pilot
Buddy Faro | Creator, writer and executive producer  | 11 episodes (as writer)
1999  | Forbidden Island | Writer and executive producer  | Unaired pilot
2000  | The Deadly Look of Love | Co-writer and co-executive producer  | Television film
2001  | All Souls | Writer and executive producer  | Episode: "Bad Blood"
2017  | Twin Peaks: The Return | Co-creator, co-writer and executive producer  | 18 episodes
Cameo: "Part 15"

## Accolades

[edit]

Bram Stoker Awards
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2017  | Twin Peaks | Superior Achievement in a Screenplay (for "Part 8")  | Nominated  | [11]

Deauville American Film Festival
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

1992  | Storyville | Prix de la Critique Internationale (International Critics Award)  | Nominated  | [12]

Golden Globe Awards
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

1991 | Twin Peaks | Best Television Series – Drama | Won  | [13]

Primetime Emmy Awards
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

1984 | Hill Street Blues | Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for "Grace Under Pressure")  | Nominated  | [14]
1990 | Twin Peaks | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated  | [15]
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for "Pilot")  | Nominated  | [16]
2018 | Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special | Nominated  | [17]

The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2005 | Fantastic Four | Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More Than $100 Million  | Won  | [18]

Writers Guild of America Awards
Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

1985 | Hill Street Blues | Episodic Drama (for "Grace Under Pressure")  | Won  | [19]
Episodic Drama (for "Death by Kiki")  | Nominated
Episodic Drama (for "Parting Is Such Sweep Sorrow")  | Nominated

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Before I Wake was published under the pseudonym Eric Bowman.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Biography | Mark Frost – novelist, television/film writer, director, producer". Mark Frost. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
2. ^ a b c d Bradigan, Bret (March 16, 2018). "The Storyteller — From 'Twin Peaks' to Ojai". Ojai Hub. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
3. ^ Jennings, Matt, ed. (2017). "Class Acts: In Memoriam". Middlebury Magazine. Vol. 91, no. 3 (Summer 2017 ed.). Middlebury College. p. 96.
4. ^ a b "Almanac | Mark Frost's New Novel". PBS. October 23, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
5. ^ "CMU School of Drama | Notable Alumni". Carnegie Mellon University. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
6. ^ Sparber, Max (May 6, 2011). "Twin Peaks and the Twin Cities: The forgotten local connection to the classic TV show". MinnPost. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
7. ^ Frost, Mark (2002). The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vandon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. Hyperion Books. ISBN 978-0-786-8692-06.
8. ^ Rodley, Chris (1997). Lynch on Lynch. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19548-2.
9. ^ "Inside Twin Peaks: Mark Frost Interview Live After Episode 9 Aired In 1990 (Video)". WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com. October 11, 2014. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
10. ^ Swartz, Tracy (December 8, 2016). "From 'Seinfeld' to 'Twin Peaks,' a look at new Sox prospect Lucas Giolito's famous family". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
11. ^ "2017 Bram Stoker Award® Winners & Nominees". Bram Stoker Awards. Horror Writers Association. March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
12. ^ "Deauville Film Festival 1992". MUBI. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
13. ^ "Twin Peaks". Golden Globe Awards. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
14. ^ "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series Nominees/Winners | 1984 Emmy Awards". Primetime Emmy Awards. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
15. ^ "Outstanding Drama Series Nominees/Winners | 1990 Emmy Awards". Primetime Emmy Awards. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
16. ^ "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series Nominees/Winners | 1990 Emmy Awards". Primetime Emmy Awards. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
17. ^ "Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or a Special Nominees/Winners | 2018 Emmy Awards". Primetime Emmy Awards. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
18. ^ "2005 Winners". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Archived from the original on March 17, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
19. ^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1985)". IMDb. Amazon. Retrieved March 30, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Mark Frost at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama (1980–1989)

* Stephen J. Cannell for "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" (1980)
* Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll for "Hill Street Station" (1981)
* Michael Wagner for "The World According to Freedom" (1982)
* David Milch for "Trial By Fury" (1983)
* Steven Bochco & Mark Frost & Karen Hall & Jeff Lewis & David Milch & Michael Wagner for "Grace Under Pressure" (1984)
* Georgia Jeffries for "An Unusual Occurrence" / Anthony Yerkovich for "Brother's Keeper" (1985)
* Debra Frank & Carl Sautter for "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" / Tom Fontana & John Masius & Bruce Paltrow for "Remembrance of Things Past" (1986)
* Georgia Jeffries for "Turn, Turn, Turn" / Debra Frank & Carl Sautter for "It's a Wonderful Job" (1987)
* Susan Shilliday for "Therapy" / Marshall Herskovitz & Edward Zwick for "Pilot" (thirtysomething) (1988)
* Karl Schaefer for "Rolling" (1989)

* Complete list
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* 1990s
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* 2010s
* 2020s

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