1. John William Johnston McCulley was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels and numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro.
10 Facts About Johnston McCulley
1. 2.
Johnston 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.
3.
The appearance of the 1920 Douglas Fairbanks silent movie The Mark of Zorro, based on the first novel, was the direct cause for Johnston McCulley's reviving what had originally been a one-time hero plot.
4.
In 1940, The Mark of Zorro remake starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell made the character much more widely known to the public at large, and Johnston McCulley decided to bring Zorro back with new stories.
5.
Johnston McCulley made an arrangement with the pulp West Magazine to produce a brand new Zorro short story for every issue.
6.
Johnston McCulley is always seen in a black cloak and a black hood on which is embossed a jet black star.
7.
Johnston McCulley was injured as a young man and used a wheelchair, but he used his mental abilities to run an international crime ring from his office, "The Spider's Den".
8.
Johnston McCulley retired Delton Prouse at the end of 1931, but "The Crimson Clown's Return" brought him back for one final adventure.
9.
Johnston McCulley died on November 23,1958, in Los Angeles, California at age 75.
10.
Johnston McCulley is entombed in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles, California.