John Winthrop Noble (born Winfield Fernley Kutz; June 24, 1880 – September 10, 1946) was an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

during the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

Career

John Winthrop Noble was the professional name of Winfield Fernley Kutz (sometimes given as Fernley Winfield Kutz), born June 24, 1880, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series; ''Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925''; Roll # 2688; Volume #: Roll 2688 – Certificates: 501350–501899, 29 Dec 1924 – 31 Dec 1924. Ancestry.com. ''U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Retrieved 2016-12-24. He worked in various capacities with the Thanhouser Company from 1910 to 1912, assisting director Lucius J. Henderson and appearing in films including ''The Baseball Bug'' (1911) and ''The Poacher'' (1912). He worked briefly for

Solax Studios Solax Studios was an American motion-picture studio founded in 1910 by executives from the Gaumont Film Company of France. Alice Guy-Blaché, her husband Herbert Blaché, Herbert, and a third partner, George A. Magie, established the Solax Compan ...

, formed the short-lived Ryno Film Company with Clarkson Potter Ryttenberg in 1913, and directed films for the Ramo Company. In December 1913 he joined the staff of

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

and became a director for the

Mutual Film Corporation Mutual Film Corporation was an early American film conglomerate that produced some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies. Founded in 1912, it was absorbed by Film Booking Offices of America, which evolved into RKO Pictures. Founding Mutual's ...

. Noble also worked for studios including the

B. A. Rolfe Benjamin Albert Rolfe (October 24, 1879 – April 23, 1956) was an American musician known as "The Boy Trumpet Wonder" who went on to be a bandleader, recording artist, radio personality, and film producer. Biography He was born on October 24, ...

Company (1914–16),

Biograph Studios Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York. History Early years The first studio of the Biograph Company, formerly ...

, Universal Pictures, Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures. Called and later credited as Jack Noble, he was known as Fernley Kutz at the time of his death September 10, 1946, at his home in Pottstown.

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* * 1880 births 1946 deaths People from Pottstown, Pennsylvania Film directors from Pennsylvania {{US-film-director-1880s-stub