John Russell was a multifaceted American creative professional, born in 1885 in Davenport, Iowa, a commercial railroad hub connected to the booming city of Chicago, Illinois.
He started his career as a journalist, working for the New York City News Association and later for the New York Tribune. In 1910, Russell published his first fiction story, "The Society Wolf," under a pseudonym.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, Russell wrote several books, including "In Dark Places" (1923),"Far Wandering Men" (1929),and "Cops 'N Robbers" (1930s). He also wrote short stories for various magazines and newspapers, which were later collected in the book "The Red Mark and Other Stories" (1919).
As a screenwriter, Russell worked on several notable films, including "The Iron Horse" (1924),the first major film directed by John Ford, which told the story of the construction of the transcontinental railroad and highlighted the hardships faced by impoverished immigrants.
Another notable film Russell scripted was "Beau Geste" (1926),about a self-exiled Englishman who joins the French Foreign Legion and survives a mutiny, only to be mortally wounded in a siege. The film was popular upon its release and inspired a scene-for-scene remake in 1939.
Russell also wrote the screenplay for the fantasy film "The Sorrows of Satan" (1926),in which Satan takes human form and convinces a struggling writer to put his fate in Satan's hands. The writer becomes a social climber, and his patron demon arranges for him a loveless marriage to a Russian princess. The film was a success for director D. W. Griffith and is still well-regarded by critics today.
Unfortunately, Russell's writing career came to an abrupt end in the 1930s, and he spent the rest of his life in obscurity. He died in Santa Monica, California, in 1956, two weeks shy of his 71st birthday.
