Birthday profile

James Fogle

James Fogle, American author (died 2012)

Born
September 29, 1936
Died
August 23, 2012
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1936

About James Fogle

James Fogle (September 29, 1936 – August 23, 2012) was the American author of the autobiographical novel Drugstore Cowboy, which became the basis for the film of the same name. He was born in Elcho, Wisconsin. Fogle was in prison at the time of the film's release in 1989. A career criminal with a sixth-grade education, Fogle had been in trouble with the law many times starting in his teens and throughout the rest of his life. On May 27, 2010, Fogle was arrested with another man for robbing a drugstore in Redmond, Washington. He was held on $500,000 bail as he awaited trial. Fogle was arrested again for robbing a Seattle pharmacy in 2011. On Friday, March 4, 2011, he was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in prison. On August 23, 2012, Fogle died of mesothelioma at the age of 75 in the state Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, Washington. Though Fogle wrote many short stories and novels, the only one that has been published is Drugstore Cowboy with the rest in the possession of Daniel Yost, a screenwriter and Fogle's friend.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when James Fogle was born

James Fogle was born in 1936. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1936

  • #1 song"The Way You Look Tonight" – Fred Astaire
  • Top movieModern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Top TV showBBC Television Service launches
  • Best-selling bookGone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Berlin Olympics
  • Top headlineJesse Owens dominates the Berlin Olympics
  • Technology milestoneBBC launches the world's first regular television service
  • Defining fadSwing dancing
  • Notable inventionSun glasses (mass-produced)
  • World population2.26 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.1M

1936 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in James Fogle's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19362026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.