John D. Craig
Encyclopedia
John D. Craig was an American businessman, writer, soldier, deep-sea diver, Hollywood stunt man, film producer
, and television host. He pioneered deep-sea diving as a profession and as an industry from the 1930s on, and filmed aerial combat over Europe during World War II
. He is best known for using film and television to show the United States public the beauties and dangers of Earth's underwater worlds.
immigrant John Craig. His father was born in Dalry, Scotland in 1868. Because the younger Craig was not given a middle name, he used "D." to create a stage name. He took the "D" from his youngest brother David, born in 1914. John Craig's older brother Tom was born in New York in 1901. The Craig family moved to Long Beach, California
, where the boys spent formative years. In the early 1920s, the younger John Craig made his fortune investing in oil wells at Signal Hill, which were successful. They gave him the resources for extensive travel and an independent life.
From the mid-1920s through the early 1930s, Craig traveled throughout Asia and Africa, with many harrowing adventures, which he described in his 1938 memoir, Danger Is My Business. On the Pacific Ocean
, he and his companions narrowly escaped with their lives when they came across a large band of drug smugglers. In China, when he and his friends were trying to trap tigers, Craig nearly died after being attacked by a tiger that climbed the tree in which he was supposedly safe. In Timbuktu
, he and his friends were suspected by the military of being spies from the French Foreign Legion
, and almost arrested.
off the southwestern coast of Baja California, Mexico, to film the sargassum
farming industry established by expatriate Japanese. He was surprised to find that the farms were deep underwater on the seabed. Because he and his crew were ill-equipped for deep-water diving (having only oxygen masks and goggles), Craig had to learn "hard-hat" diving from the Japanese "sargassa" farmers, who used decades-old diving equipment. For the next five years, while living on the Pacific coast, Craig worked on modernizing that equipment. At the same time, he hired on as a stunt diver for several movies, notably those of film director W. S. Van Dyke
.
In 1936, Craig traveled to Great Britain and Ireland to prepare for underwater filming of an attempt to recover cargo (including possible gold
bullion) that had gone down with the RMS Lusitania
when it was sunk near the Irish coast in 1915. In 1935, a single British diver had managed to walk the decks of the sunken ship, so, such a salvage operation was considered feasible. But, after several trial runs, the intense sea currents and the cumbersome nature of the half-ton diving suit caused the plans for filming and salvage operations to be abandoned.
While gathering resources for the Lusitania dive, Craig worked extensively with the deep-sea diving expert Max Gene Nohl to perfect the equipment needed for such a deep-sea task. They did much testing in the Great Lakes
of the United States. In 1937, Craig, Nohl, the diver Jack Browne, and Edgar End, M.D., co-founded the deep-sea diving equipment company, Diving Equipment and Salvage Company, in Wisconsin. It is now known as DESCO
. Craig also participated in scientific research to determine the best mixture of gases for deep sea "hardhat" diving "History of DESCO", DESCO Corporation website — the result was a variation of heliox
, a mixture of oxygen and helium that enabled divers to avoid the occupational hazard of nitrogen narcosis
.
In 1938, Craig was part of a salvage team that unsuccessfully tried to find the Mexican crown jewels in a shipwreck off the Virginia coast. He continued to dive and explore the seas of the world throughout his life. In 1960, he worked with the US Navy on underwater sound research.
, in which he specialized in aerial photography. Commissioned as a captain, on April 1, 1942 he appeared on one of the first live television programs commercially broadcast in the United States, WNBT's "Thrills and Chills Everywhere", which presented "dramatizations of some hair-raising experience of an explorer or adventurer."
In 1943, Craig headed the 9th Combat Camera Unit of the 6th Air Defence Group in Europe (stationed in Cairo, Egypt). He supplied aerial footage to Hollywood's First Motion Picture Unit
, which had been formed in 1942 as the 18th Air Force Base Unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps.
In 1944 after being promoted to major, Craig was transferred with his film unit to England to document the D-Day
invasion. He flew more than 35 missions in Europe and Africa, and aided in the aerial photography of the Ploesti Raid in 1944. (Some of his B-17 footage was reportedly used in the movie Twelve O'Clock High
(1949), and again in the TV series
of the same name.
Wounded in action late in the war at Remagen Bridge in Germany, Craig was awarded the Purple Heart
— he was also awarded the Legion of Merit
, the Distinguished Flying Cross
, the Air Medal
with four oak-leaf clusters, and the Distinguished Unit Citation with three clusters for his achievements. By the end of his military service, Craig had been promoted to Lt. Colonel, a rank he used as a title for the rest of his life.
After the end of the war, Craig visually documented the atomic bomb test site at Bikini Atoll
in 1946.
) and for "men's" magazines (such as Sensation and Argosy
).
His autobiography/memoir, Danger Is My Business, was published in 1938 in New York as a Book Club edition by the Literary Guild, and in London the same year by Arthur Barker Ltd.. It was reprinted in New York in 1941 as a mass-market hardcover by Garden City Publishing. A paperback Armed Services edition was published in 1945.
In 1965, Craig and Morgan Clint Denn co-authored Introduction to Skin and SCUBA Diving, a hardcover how-to book on scuba diving, intended for the general public. A paperback edition was published by Sphere Press in 1969.
In 1950, Craig produced at least 18 twenty-minute episodes of a Warner Brothers film series entitled Danger Is My Business. Though named after his memoir, the series documented instead a wide range of dangerous occupations. Craig narrated and hosted several of the episodes. Syndicated television broadcasts of these episodes continued world-wide until well into the 1960s.
John D. Craig experienced a debilitating stroke in 1990. He died August 30, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona
, at the age of 94. He was buried at the Rose Hills cemetery in Whittier, California
.
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, and television host. He pioneered deep-sea diving as a profession and as an industry from the 1930s on, and filmed aerial combat over Europe during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He is best known for using film and television to show the United States public the beauties and dangers of Earth's underwater worlds.
Early life
John D. Craig was born in 1903, one of five sons of a ScotsScottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
immigrant John Craig. His father was born in Dalry, Scotland in 1868. Because the younger Craig was not given a middle name, he used "D." to create a stage name. He took the "D" from his youngest brother David, born in 1914. John Craig's older brother Tom was born in New York in 1901. The Craig family moved to Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, where the boys spent formative years. In the early 1920s, the younger John Craig made his fortune investing in oil wells at Signal Hill, which were successful. They gave him the resources for extensive travel and an independent life.
From the mid-1920s through the early 1930s, Craig traveled throughout Asia and Africa, with many harrowing adventures, which he described in his 1938 memoir, Danger Is My Business. On the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, he and his companions narrowly escaped with their lives when they came across a large band of drug smugglers. In China, when he and his friends were trying to trap tigers, Craig nearly died after being attacked by a tiger that climbed the tree in which he was supposedly safe. In Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
, he and his friends were suspected by the military of being spies from the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
, and almost arrested.
Diving career
In 1931, John D. Craig was hired by a Hollywood studio to travel to Cedros IslandCedros Island
Cedros Island is a Mexican island in the Pacific Ocean....
off the southwestern coast of Baja California, Mexico, to film the sargassum
Sargassum
Sargassum is a genus of brown macroalga in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral reefs. However, the genus may be best known for its planktonic species...
farming industry established by expatriate Japanese. He was surprised to find that the farms were deep underwater on the seabed. Because he and his crew were ill-equipped for deep-water diving (having only oxygen masks and goggles), Craig had to learn "hard-hat" diving from the Japanese "sargassa" farmers, who used decades-old diving equipment. For the next five years, while living on the Pacific coast, Craig worked on modernizing that equipment. At the same time, he hired on as a stunt diver for several movies, notably those of film director W. S. Van Dyke
W. S. Van Dyke
Woodbridge Strong "Woody" Van Dyke, Jr. was an American motion picture director.-Early life and career:...
.
In 1936, Craig traveled to Great Britain and Ireland to prepare for underwater filming of an attempt to recover cargo (including possible gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
bullion) that had gone down with the RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
when it was sunk near the Irish coast in 1915. In 1935, a single British diver had managed to walk the decks of the sunken ship, so, such a salvage operation was considered feasible. But, after several trial runs, the intense sea currents and the cumbersome nature of the half-ton diving suit caused the plans for filming and salvage operations to be abandoned.
While gathering resources for the Lusitania dive, Craig worked extensively with the deep-sea diving expert Max Gene Nohl to perfect the equipment needed for such a deep-sea task. They did much testing in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
of the United States. In 1937, Craig, Nohl, the diver Jack Browne, and Edgar End, M.D., co-founded the deep-sea diving equipment company, Diving Equipment and Salvage Company, in Wisconsin. It is now known as DESCO
DESCO
DESCO is an underwater diving equipment maker which was first organized in 1937 in Wisconsin in the USA as Diving Equipment and Salvage Co.It was founded by:-...
. Craig also participated in scientific research to determine the best mixture of gases for deep sea "hardhat" diving "History of DESCO", DESCO Corporation website — the result was a variation of heliox
Heliox
Heliox is a breathing gas composed of a mixture of helium and oxygen .Heliox has been used medically since the 1930s, and although the medical community adopted it initially to alleviate symptoms of upper airway obstruction, its range of medical uses has since expanded greatly, mostly because of...
, a mixture of oxygen and helium that enabled divers to avoid the occupational hazard of nitrogen narcosis
Nitrogen narcosis
Narcosis while diving , is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while scuba diving at depth. The Greek word ναρκωσις is derived from narke, "temporary decline or loss of senses and movement, numbness", a term used by Homer and Hippocrates...
.
In 1938, Craig was part of a salvage team that unsuccessfully tried to find the Mexican crown jewels in a shipwreck off the Virginia coast. He continued to dive and explore the seas of the world throughout his life. In 1960, he worked with the US Navy on underwater sound research.
Military career
Craig served as an officer in the U. S. Army Air Corps during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in which he specialized in aerial photography. Commissioned as a captain, on April 1, 1942 he appeared on one of the first live television programs commercially broadcast in the United States, WNBT's "Thrills and Chills Everywhere", which presented "dramatizations of some hair-raising experience of an explorer or adventurer."
In 1943, Craig headed the 9th Combat Camera Unit of the 6th Air Defence Group in Europe (stationed in Cairo, Egypt). He supplied aerial footage to Hollywood's First Motion Picture Unit
First Motion Picture Unit
The First Motion Picture Unit was the first unit of the United States Military to be made up entirely of motion picture personnel. It was also the title of a 1943 documentary about the unit.-Organization:...
, which had been formed in 1942 as the 18th Air Force Base Unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps.
In 1944 after being promoted to major, Craig was transferred with his film unit to England to document the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
invasion. He flew more than 35 missions in Europe and Africa, and aided in the aerial photography of the Ploesti Raid in 1944. (Some of his B-17 footage was reportedly used in the movie Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
(1949), and again in the TV series
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)
Twelve O'Clock High or 12 O'Clock High is an American drama series set in World War II. This TV series originally broadcasted on ABC-TV for two-and-one-half TV seasons from September 18, 1964, through January 13, 1967; was based on the motion picture Twelve O'Clock High...
of the same name.
Wounded in action late in the war at Remagen Bridge in Germany, Craig was awarded the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
— he was also awarded the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
, the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
, the Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
with four oak-leaf clusters, and the Distinguished Unit Citation with three clusters for his achievements. By the end of his military service, Craig had been promoted to Lt. Colonel, a rank he used as a title for the rest of his life.
After the end of the war, Craig visually documented the atomic bomb test site at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in 1946.
Writing career
Craig wrote many articles in the 1930s on undersea diving, exotic travels, and other subjects, both for popular science magazines (such as Popular MechanicsPopular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
) and for "men's" magazines (such as Sensation and Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
).
His autobiography/memoir, Danger Is My Business, was published in 1938 in New York as a Book Club edition by the Literary Guild, and in London the same year by Arthur Barker Ltd.. It was reprinted in New York in 1941 as a mass-market hardcover by Garden City Publishing. A paperback Armed Services edition was published in 1945.
In 1965, Craig and Morgan Clint Denn co-authored Introduction to Skin and SCUBA Diving, a hardcover how-to book on scuba diving, intended for the general public. A paperback edition was published by Sphere Press in 1969.
Film career
Craig first became involved with the Hollywood movie studios in the early 1930s as a freelance cameraman and later, as a film producer for underwater subjects. From the mid to late 1930s, he also worked as stunt diver for various Hollywood film productions.In 1950, Craig produced at least 18 twenty-minute episodes of a Warner Brothers film series entitled Danger Is My Business. Though named after his memoir, the series documented instead a wide range of dangerous occupations. Craig narrated and hosted several of the episodes. Syndicated television broadcasts of these episodes continued world-wide until well into the 1960s.
Television career
From 1954 on, Craig was involved with five different television series. He was nominated three times for Emmy Awards.- I Search For Adventure - Craig appeared several times in this locally produced Los Angeles documentary adventure show in 1954-1955. The show was produced by Jack DouglasJack DouglasJack Douglas may refer to:* Jack Douglas , British actor and comedian* Jack Douglas , American record producer* Jack Douglas , American comedy writer...
. Craig also hosted the nationally syndicated 1954-55 travel documentary series, also entitled I Search For Adventure and produced by Jack Douglas.
- Kingdom of the Sea - Craig and the actor Bob Stevenson were hosts of the 1954-59 syndicated documentary series, Kingdom of the Sea. Each episode was 25–30 minutes long.
- Expedition! - Craig was host of the 1960-62 ABC-TV documentary series Expedition!Expedition!Expedition! was a travel documentary television series that was broadcast in the United States on ABC-TV Tuesday nights in the 1960-61 television season and Monday nights in the 1961-62 television season.- Summary :Producer John D...
, shown Tuesday (and then Monday) nights 7-7:30 PM.
- Of Lands and Seas - Craig produced and hosted the syndicated documentary series, "Of Lands and Seas", starting in 1967. The show had 260 half-hour episodes of Craig's work, with additional films from other film-makers — it was intended for daily weeknight presentation. Episodes continued to appear on national television through the late 1970s.
Marriage and family
Craig married a woman whose first name was Gloria before 1938, but the marriage did not last. He noted her name in his autobiography, but did not refer to her again in writing after the book was published. The two of them divorced sometime in the early 1940s. After World War II, he married Millie Day; they had two daughters together.John D. Craig experienced a debilitating stroke in 1990. He died August 30, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, at the age of 94. He was buried at the Rose Hills cemetery in Whittier, California
Whittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
.
External links
- Obituary: "John D. Craig; Photographer of Underwater Scenes, TV Host", Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep 1997