J. Searle Dawley

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia James Searle Dawley was an American film director producer screenwriter stage actor and playwright Between 1907 and the mid1920s while working for Edison Rex Motion Picture Company Famous Players Fox and other studios he directed more than 300 short films and 56 features which include many of the early releases of stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Mary Pickford Pearl White Marguerite Clark Harold Lloyd and John Barrymore He also wrote scenarios for many of his productions including one for his 1910 horror film Frankenstein the earliest known screen adaptation of Mary Shelleys 1818 novel While film direction and screenwriting comprised the bulk of Dawleys career he also had earlier working experience in theater performing on stage for more than a decade and managing every aspect of stagecraft Dawley wrote at least 18 plays as well for repertory companies and for several Broadway productions