Writing
Community Rating
6.5
TMDB estimate
Born
October 22, 1889
Died
March 8, 1954 (age 64)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John L. Balderston (October 22, 1889 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - March 8, 1954 Los Angeles, California) was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his horror and fantasy scripts. Balderston began his career as a journalist. He worked as European war correspondent during World War I. He was the editor of Outlook magazine and a correspondent for the New York World. In 1927, he was retained by Horace Liveright to revise Hamilton Deane's stage adaptation of Dracula for its American production. His 1929 play Berkeley Square later formed the basis of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. His Dracula subsequently formed the basis of the 1931 film version, leading Balderston into a screenwriting career, initially for Universal Pictures horror films: in addition to Dracula, he contributed to Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Dracula's Daughter. He spent much of his career adapting novels for the screen, including The Prisoner of Zenda in 1937 and 1944's Gaslight, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination (the first was for 1935's The Lives of a Bengal Lancer). He was also one of the team of writers who collaborated on the 1939 film adaptation of Gone with the Wind. His 1932 play Red Planet was filmed as Red Planet Mars in 1952. Description above from the Wikipedia article John L. Balderston, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

The Last of the Mohicans
as Adaptation
1992

Dracula
as Theatre Play
1979

The Mummy
as Original Film Writer
1959

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
as Characters
1955

The Prisoner of Zenda
as Screenplay
1952

Red Planet Mars
as Writer
1952

The House in the Square
as Theatre Play
1951

The Mummy's Curse
as Characters
1944

The Mummy's Ghost
as Original Film Writer
1944

Gaslight
as Screenplay
1944

Stand by for Action
as Screenplay
1942

Tennessee Johnson
as Screenplay
1942

The Mummy's Tomb
as Original Film Writer
1942

Smilin' Through
as Screenplay
1941

Scotland Yard
as Writer
1941

Victory
as Screenplay
1940

The Mummy's Hand
as Original Film Writer
1940

Little Old New York
as Story
1940

The Prisoner of Zenda
as Screenplay
1937

Beloved Enemy
as Screenplay
1936