Background
Ethnicity:
James Thomas Flexner's father was of German-Jewish descent.
James Thomas Flexner was born on January 13, 1908, in Manhattan, New York, United States. He is the son of Simon Flexner (scientist, first director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and discoverer of a cure for spinal meningitis) and Helen Thomas Flexner. James suffered from dyslexia, but his passion for writing was spawned at a young age and he was published in the literary magazine at Lincoln High School.