Russell S. Doughten, Jr.

Russell S. Doughten Jr. (February 16, 1927 – August 19, 2013) was an American filmmaker and producer of numerous short and feature-length films. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell". Doughten made both secular and Christian films. His work included the 1958 science fiction classic The Blob. He was best known for his four-part series A Thief in the Night. Nearly all of his Christian films were shot in various locales in his home state of Iowa. He has been referred to as "the godfather of independent film in Iowa" and his body of work ranks him as the leading filmmaker in that state. He mentored many indie filmmakers in Iowa.