David Loeb Goodis (1917–1967) was an American crime fiction writer noted for noir short stories and novels. Born in Philadelphia, Goodis alternately resided there, New York City, and Hollywood during his professional years.
Goodis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of William Goodis and Mollie Halpern Goodis. His father was a Russian-Jewish émigré born in 1882 who had arrived in America with his mother in 1890. His mother was born in Pennsylvania also into a family of Russian-Jewish émigrés. Goodis’s father co-owned a newspaper dealership and later went into the textile business as the William Goodis Company. A brother, Jerome, born in 1920, died of meningitis at age three; another brother, Herbert, was born into the family in 1922.
Goodis attended Simon Gratz High
