Frank Deford (born Benjamin Franklin Deford III on December 16, 1938 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American sportswriter and novelist.In addition to his 50-year tenure at Sports Illustrated, where he now holds the title of Senior Contributing Writer, Deford appears weekly on National Public Radio and as Senior Correspondent for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. He has written 18 books, nine of them novels. A member of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame, Deford was six times voted Sportswriter of the Year by the members of that organization, and was twice voted Magazine Writer of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review.In 2012 he became the first magazine recipient of the Red Smith Award. In 2013 he will be presented with the William Allen White Citation for "excellence in journalism" by the University of Kansas and will become the first sports journalist ever to receive the National Press Foundation's highest honor, the W.M. Kiplinger Award for Distinguished Contributions to Journalism. Deford's archives are held by the University of Texas, where an annual lecture is presented in his name. He is a long-time advocate for research and treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Release of his book, "The Spy in the Deuce Court". [1986]
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Release of his book, "Everybody's All-American". [1981]
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Westport, Connecticut [January 2009]
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Release of his book, "Love and Infamy". [1993]
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Release of his memoir, "Alex: The Life of a Child". [1983]
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Release of his book, "The World's Tallest Midget". [1987]
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Regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition [January 2004]
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Adoptive father of Scarlet Faith Deford Winner.
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Father-in-law of Adam Douglas Winner (born 1980).
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Is one of the interviewees talking about NBA star Ming Yao in the documentary film The Year of the Yao (2004).
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He and his wife Carol have had three children: Christian (b. 1969), Alexandra (b. 1972 - d. 1980), and Scarlet (b. 1980). Scarlet is the daughter they adopted a few months following the death of their daughter Alex, who died of cystic fibrosis at age eight.
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In 1983, Deford published a memoir that chronicled his daughter's short life. The book was adapted into a TV film of the same name, Alex: The Life of a Child (1986), which starred Craig T. Nelson as Deford and Bonnie Bedelia as his wife, Carol. Deford updated his memoir in 1998 to include an epilogue on how his family and Alex's childhood friends progressed following her death.
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He is the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became an advocate for children with cystic fibrosis after his daughter Alexandra was diagnosed with the illness when she was a few months old. She died on January 19, 1980, at age eight.
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He grew up near Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol.
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Narrator of the documentary "Visions of New York City"
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Sports Illustrated columnist
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Former editor-in-chief The National sports weekly
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Picture Perfect: The Stories Behind the Greatest Photos in Sports
2002
TV Movie documentary
Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America
2000
TV Movie documentary
Bill Russell: My Life, My Way
2000
TV Movie documentary
Sports on the Silver Screen
1997
TV Movie documentary
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
1994
TV Movie documentary
Everybody's All-American
1988
novel
Trading Hearts
1988
written by
Alex: The Life of a Child
1986
TV Movie book
Barbaro
2008
TV Movie documentary
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
TV Series 1 episode, 1995 story 3 "In Focus" - 1 episode, 2005
Four Minutes
2005
TV Movie article Hillary and Bannister / teleplay
Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the '70s
2003
TV Movie documentary
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Arli$$
2000
TV Series
Frank Deford
Talk Live
1991
TV Series
Everybody's All-American
1988
Cafe Owner
Trading Hearts
1988
Bartender #2
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
1995-2014
TV Series
Himself - Correspondent / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Friends of Jaclyn") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Blue Star Fallen") / ...
Schooled: The Price of College Sports
2013
Documentary
Himself
The United States of Football
2013
Documentary
Himself
History Specials
2013
TV Series
Himself - Sports Commentator
Mike & Mike
2012
TV Series
Himself - Writer, Sports Illustrated
Face the Nation
2012
TV Series
Himself - Baseball Panelist
The Colbert Report
2012
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Tavis Smiley
2012
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Texas Monthly Talks
2010
TV Series
Himself - Interviewee
30 for 30
2009
TV Series documentary
Himself
All In: The Poker Movie
2009
Documentary
Himself
ESPN SportsCentury
1999-2006
TV Series documentary
Himself / Himself (sportswriter)
ESPN 25: Who's #1?
2004-2006
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame...
2005-2006
TV Series
Himself
The First Four Minutes
2005
TV Movie documentary
Himself
You Write Better Than You Play: The Best of Frank DeFord
2005
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World
2005
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Dennis Miller
2004
TV Series
Himself
The Year of the Yao
2004
Documentary
Himself
60 Minutes
2004
TV Series documentary
Himself - Writer, Sports Illustrated (segment "Geno's Game")
The Tim McCarver Show
2003
TV Series
Himself - Guest
100 Years of the World Series
2003
Video documentary
Himself
Charlie Rose
1995-2001
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Bill Russell: My Life, My Way
2000
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Writer
Howard Cosell: Telling It Like It Is
1999
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Wide World of Sports 35th Anniversary Special
1996
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
1994
TV Movie documentary
Himself (voice)
Diamonds on the Silver Screen
1992
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Norman Rockwell: An American Portrait
1987
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1995
CableACE
CableACE Awards
Writing a Documentary Special
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World (1994)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1990
USC Scripter Award
USC Scripter Award
Everybody's All-American (1988)
Known for movies
Bill Russell: My Life, My Way (2000) as Writer
Diamonds on the Silver Screen (1992) as Himself
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (1995-2014) as Writer
Howard Cosell: Telling It Like It Is (1999) as Himself
$3 Million