Johnston McCulley
Writer, Author
1883 – 1958
Who was Johnston McCulley?
Johnston McCulley was the author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro.
Many of his novels and stories were written under the pseudonyms Harrington Strong, Raley Brien, George Drayne, Monica Morton, Rowena Raley, Frederic Phelps, Walter Pierson, and John Mack Stone, among others.
McCulley started as a police reporter for The Police Gazette and served as an Army public affairs officer during World War I. An amateur history buff, he went on to a career in pulp magazines and screenplays, often using a Southern California backdrop for his stories.
Aside from Zorro, McCulley created many other pulp characters, including Black Star, The Spider, The Mongoose, and Thubway Tham. Many of McCulley's characters—The Green Ghost, The Thunderbolt, and The Crimson Clown—were inspirations for the masked heroes that have appeared in popular culture from McCulley's time to the present day.
Born in Ottawa, Illinois, and raised in Chillicothe, Illinois, he died in 1958 in Los Angeles, California aged 75.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Feb 2, 1883
Ottawa - Also known as
- Joseph McCullough
- Johnston McCully
- Harrison Strong
- Raley Brien
- George Drayne
- Monica Morton
- Rowena Raley
- Frederic Phelps
- Walter Pierson
- John Mack Stone
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Died
- Nov 23, 1958
Los Angeles - Resting place
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Johnston McCulley." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/johnston_mcculley>.
Discuss this Johnston McCulley biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In