Born in 1924 in New York City and grew up in Scarsdale; studied at age 14 under George Bridgman at the Art Students League of New York and later at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. In 1948, McCarthy set up his own studio in New York and began painting paperback covers. He provided hundreds of covers for Pocket Books (primarily mysteries and Westerns) and Signet (war books, Westerns and science fiction), and his fame in the paperback field led to illustration assignments for magazines, advertising and the cinema. In 1969 he began painting Western scenes for galleries; by 1971 he was no longer doing commercial art. Today, McCarthy lives in Sedona, Arizona; when exhibited, his paintings "sell out in ten minutes," says Leonard Leone, art director at Bantam Books. "He earns more than any of them nowadays," Leone continues, "because he can work so fast. He's a real pro." McCarthy paints in oils over casein under-painting over gesso preparation on masonite panels.

(This text originally appeared in "Paperbacks, U.S.A.: A Graphic History, 1939-1959", Blue Dolphin Enterprises, 1981).

More articles:

August 1950 - "Introducing A New Junior Literary Guild Artist"
May 27, 1955 - "Collier's Credits" (by Jerome Beatty, Jr.)
circa 1972 - "With A Paint Brush Instead Of A Gun"
1974 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Frank C. McCarthy)
October 1976 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by James K. Howard)
May 1981 - "A Visit With Frank McCarthy" (by Kay Mayer)
July 1981 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Piet Schreuders)
June 10, 1982 - "Cowboy Art" (by Stewart McBride)
July 1983 - "The Verde Valley - A Personal Profile" (by Frank Brothers)
July 1989 - "The 007' Files: Selling Bond" (by Stephen Rebello)
November 1989 - "Illustrators - Part 1: Movie Posters" (by Franz L. Brown)
October 17, 1990 - "McCarthy Paints For Visual Impact" (by Gail Arnold)
2001 - "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000" (by Walt Reed)