John L. Balderston

Playwright whose stage works provided the basis for the films "Dracula" (1931) and "Frankenstein" (1931). Balderston went on to write several superior horror screenplays and to successfully adapt a number of literary works; he scripted two fine Hollywood entertainments, the definitive version of the swashbuckling classic, "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937), and the suspenseful "Gaslight" (1944).