John W. Krafft(1888-1958)
- Writer
- Editor
John W. Krafft was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the son of
Ernest L. and Mary E. Krafft. He graduated from Indianapolis' Manual
Training H.S. in 1907, and wrote and produced the senior play for the
school. He went to work for the Indianapolis News as an editorial
writer and did stage and movie reviews. Universal Pictures sent him a
telegram inviting him to join their writing staff, and for a year he
was a title and advertising writer. Fox then hired him and he did
similar work there for five years. He contributed to such magazines as
Puck, Life, Film Fun and Judge. His proficiency in smoothing out
unfinished or otherwise problematic scripts earned him a reputation as
a "script doctor", and in 1928 he signed a contract with
producer/director Cecil B. DeMille. He
stayed with DeMille for four years and then went to Pathe Studios.
After his stint at Pathe he became a freelancer, working for such
studios as Paramount, First National, Universal and Associated
Exhibitors. He was married to Emma Noble of Pendleton, Indiana. They
had two sons and a daughter.
