John Paxton (May 21, 1911 – January 5, 1985) was an American screenwriter.
Some of his films include Murder, My Sweet in 1944, Cornered in 1945, Crossfire in 1947 (an adaptation of the controversial novel The Brick Foxhole that earned him his only Oscar nomination). He helped adapt the screenplay for the controversial film The Wild One in 1953, starring Marlon Brando.
Paxton's work twice received the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, for Murder, My Sweet and Crossfire.
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Biography
Paxton was born in Kansas City in 1911. He attended the University of Missouri where he studied journalism and was involved in college plays.
He went to New York. A cousin of Paxton's father did publicity for Katherine Cornell and got him a job organising a play-writing contest for the Theatre Guild. He went to work at Stage magazine as an assistant and ended up doing reviews . He became friends with a fellow reviewer, Adrian Scott with whom Paxton would later work in Hollywood.