Director John Rawlins started in films in 1918 as an actor, stunt man, gag writer and assistant director. For a while he sidelined as a comedy writer, then became an editor and later directed second features for First National in Britain from the early 1930s. Returning to the US, he joined Universal (1938-46), where he turned out "B" pictures and serials, including installments of the "Dick Tracy" and "Sherlock Holmes" series. He had similar assignments at RKO (1947-48) and United Artists (1951-53), before branching out into television dramas.