`Untouchables' Author Oscar Fraley

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Oscar Fraley, whose book "The Untouchables" spawned a popular 1950s television series and a 1987 movie with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery, has died. He was 79.

Mr. Fraley, a former newspaper reporter and sports columnist for United Press International, wrote more than 30 books in a career spanning 38 years. His subjects ranged from true-life crime fighters to sports figures. He also helped celebrities pen autobiographies, including former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, who mysteriously disappeared in 1975.

Mr. Fraley's death came unexpectedly Thursday night after he had been hospitalized with complications from a hernia and stomach surgery, said his wife, Imogene Fraley.

Among Mr. Fraley's books were two Untouchables sequels, "The Last of the Untouchables" and "Four Against the Mob." He also wrote "Hoffa, The Real Story" and "The Million Dollar Gate," the autobiography of boxing manager Jack "Doc" Kearns.

Mr. Fraley published The Senior Golfer, a magazine based in Fort Lauderdale. He also wrote golf-instruction books for golfers Sam Snead and Lee Trevino, as well as sports books on fishing, tennis, baseball and basketball.

"Writing is all I ever did," Mr. Fraley said in a 1987 interview. "I went to work for a newspaper in high school. I was paid $15 a week, and I worked a hundred hours."

"The Untouchables" was the Prohibition-era story of Treasury Agent Eliot Ness and his successful battle to topple mobster Al Capone. The book inspired the TV show starring Robert Stack and Neville Brand. The movie version was a collaboration between director Brian De Palma and playwright David Mamet.

Mr. Fraley was a native of Philadelphia.