Frederick Hazlitt Brennan was born on September 23, 1901, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Jesse K. (1865-1936) and Mary Sharpe Brennan. His father, Jesse K., and brother, Jesse K. Jr., were Episcopalian ministers.
Brennan attended the University of Missouri but left after a couple of years to work for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he became a rewrite man and political reporter. In 1923, he began working as a movie critic, feature, and editorial writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
While at the Post-Dispatch, Brennan wrote an expose on a murder investigation that led to indictments against a circuit attorney, an assistant prosecutor, four lawyers, and an attaché of the district attorney's office. His story also played a part in the defeat in the next general election of the judge responsible for the case and the governor of Missouri.
After leaving the newspaper business in the late 1920s, Brennan began working as a scenario writer for Metro Golden Mayer, Fox Films, and First National Films, and as a free-lance fiction writer, contributing stories to such magazines as Liberty, Collier's, Red Book, Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, and others.
In the 1950s, he began writing for television, eventually becoming the chief writer on the ABC series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955).
Brennan's notable works include: "God Got One Vote" (1927),"The Matron's Report" (1929),"Pie in the Sky" (1931),"Battleship Gertie" (1934),"One Young American" (1937),"The Sin of the Father" (1941),"The Manager" (1936),"They Sell Sailors Elephants" (1941),"The Wookey" (1941),"Memo to a Firing Squad" (1943),"Smith's Life of Jones" (1949),"The Irish Lullaby" (1950),and "One of Our H-bombs is Missing" (1955).
In 1948, he wrote the libretto to Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos' operetta Magdalena.
On New Year's Eve in 1937, Brennan was seriously injured in an automobile accident near Wickeburg, Arizona, that killed two others and left his wife with severe cuts and bruises. He and his wife spent 30 days in a Phoenix area hospital recovering from their injuries.
Brennan's life came to an end on June 30, 1962, at his Hidden Valley home, where he used a.38 caliber revolver. Depression over his diabetes, a recent heart attack, and work stress were thought to have been contributing factors.
Brennan was credited with coining the word ergophobia to describe an abnormal and persistent fear of work. He was survived by his wife and three children.
