John W. Krafft

Biography

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.