John D. Craig (1903–1997) was an American businessman, writer, soldier, diver,

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

stunt man A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, and television host. He worked in the commercial surface-supplied diving industry from the 1930s on, and filmed aerial combat over Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 28 April 1903 in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of five sons of a Scots

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

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 is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, 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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, 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.Craig, John D. "The World's Most Dangerous Job"
''POPULAR MECHANICS'', Jun 1936, p. 866 In

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

, he and his friends were suspected by the military of being spies from the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, and almost arrested.

Diving career

In 1931, John D. Craig was hired by a Hollywood studio to travel to

Cedros Island Cedros Island (''Isla de Cedros'', "island of cedars" in Spanish) is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the state of Baja California, Mexico. The dry and rocky island had a population of 1,350 in 2005 and has an area of which includes ...

off the southwestern coast of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico, to film the

sargassum ''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae (seaweed) 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 re ...

farming industry established by expatriate Japanese. He was surprised to find that the farms were deep underwater on the seabed.John D. Craig, "Deep Diving Is Dangerous, But..."
''The Rotarian'', February 1938, p. 22 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 Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (Woody) (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director and writer who made several successful early sound films, including ''Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932, ''The Thin Man'' in 1934, ''San Francis ...

.John D. Craig, "Diving Among Sea Killers"
''Popular Mechanics'', April 1936, pp. 508-511 In 1936, Craig traveled to Great Britain and Ireland to prepare for underwater filming of an attempt to recover cargo (including possible

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...

) that had gone down with the ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlanti ...

'' 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.Teale, Edwin. "New Worlds Beneath the Sea"
''Popular Science'', October 1937, p. 29
''Brief History of Mixed Gas Diving'' website
, Tom Whitely Website 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 The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

of the United States. In 1937, Craig, Nohl, the diver Jack Browne, and Edgar End, M.D., co-founded the

deep-sea diving Standard diving dress, also known as hard-hat or copper hat equipment, deep sea diving suit or heavy gear, is a type of diving suit that was formerly used for all relatively deep underwater work that required more than breath-hold duration, which ...

equipment company, Diving Equipment and Salvage Company, in Wisconsin. It is now known as

DESCO DESCO is an underwater diving equipment maker which was first organized in 1937 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as Diving Equipment and Salvage Co. It was founded by: * Max Eugene Nohl, a diver who lived in Milwaukee. In the early 1930s he had national ...

. Craig also participated in scientific research to determine the best mixture of gases for deep sea "

hardhat A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Suspensi ...

" diving. — the result was a variation of

heliox Heliox is a breathing gas mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2). It is used as a medical treatment for patients with difficulty breathing because mixture generates less resistance than atmospheric air when passing through the airways of the lung ...

, a mixture of oxygen and helium that enabled divers to avoid the occupational hazard of

nitrogen narcosis Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anesthetic effect of certain gas ...

. 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 The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Air Corps during

, 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.""Thrills and Chills Everywhere"
Status Guide: Television Obscurities website In 1943, Craig headed the 9th Combat Camera Unit of the 6th Air Defence Group in Europe (stationed in

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

). He supplied aerial footage to Hollywood's

First Motion Picture Unit The 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit), originally known as the First Motion Picture Unit, Army Air Forces, was the primary film production unit of the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II, and was the first military unit mad ...

, which had been formed in 1942 as the 18th Air Force Base Unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps."First Motion Picture Unit"
Magic Lantern Video and Book Store Website In 1944 after being promoted to Major, Craig was transferred with his film unit to England to document the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

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'' is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight bombing missions against Germany and Occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II ...

'' (1949), and again in the ''

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

'' of the same name. Wounded in action late in the war at

Remagen Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Bridge at Remagen) was in early March 1945 a critical remaining bridge across the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces durin ...

in Germany, Craig was awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

— he was also awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with four oak-leaf clusters, and the

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

with three clusters for his achievements.Google News Archive: "Dinner Club Will Hear Film Photog"
''Spokane Spokesman-Review'', September 21, 1951, p. 12 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 A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

test site at

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Second ...

in 1946.Joswick, Jerry & Keating, Lawrence (1961) "Combat Cameraman", ''Chilton Company'', pp. vii-viii (Foreword by Lt. Col. John D. Craig)— full-text of the book is available online a
Combat Camera Man
webpage at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

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 Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'') and for "men's" magazines (such as ''Sensation'' and '' Argosy'')."Craig, Captain John D."
, Fiction Mags Index website His autobiography/memoir, ''Danger Is My Business'', was published in 1938 in New York as a book club edition by

Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a way to encourag ...

,Craig, John D. (1938) "Danger Is My Business" Literary Guild, NYC and in London the same year by Arthur Barker Ltd.Craig, John D. (1938) "Danger Is My Business" Arthur Barker Ltd., London It was reprinted in New York in 1941 as a mass-market hardcover by Garden City Publishing.Craig, John D. (1941) "Danger Is My Business" Garden City Publishing, NYC A paperback Armed Services edition was published in 1945.Craig, John D. (1945) "Danger Is My Business" First Thus 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.Craig, John D. & Denn, Morgan Clint. (1965) ''Introduction to Skin and SCUBA Diving'', Simon & Schuster, A paperback edition was published by Sphere Press in 1969.Craig, John D. & Denn, Morgan Clint (1969) ''Introduction to Skin and SCUBA Diving'', Sphere Press,

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.

Television career

From 1954 on, Craig was involved with five different television series. He was nominated three times for

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Obituary for John D. Craig
on the Los Angeles Times website *''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 Douglas. "Adventure in Production: Douglas Maps 13 Half-Hour Pix For Price of One Video Drama"
''Billboard'', 7 Aug 1954, p. 6 Craig also hosted the nationally syndicated 1954-55 travel documentary series, also entitled ''I Search For Adventure'' and produced by Jack Douglas.
''

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

'', 7 Sep 1959 *''Kingdom of the Sea'' - Craig and the actor Bob Stevenson were hosts of the 1954-59 syndicated documentary series, ''Kingdom of the Sea''. "Kingdom of the Sea"
Classic TV Archive websiteHanauer, Eric (1994) ''Diving Pioneers: An Oral History of Diving in America'', Aqua Quest Publications, Inc., p. 152 Each episode was 25–30 minutes long. *''Danger is My Business'' (1958–59) - at least 18 x 30 min episodes were made. Though named after his memoir, the series documented instead a wide range of dangerous occupations such as Pacific rafter DeVere Baker,

United States Air Force Thunderbirds The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Th ...

, Swiss search and rescue pilot Hermann Geiger, beach lifesavers in Sydney, firemen, and a whale trainer and shark vet. Craig produced, narrated and hosted the series. Syndicated television broadcasts of these episodes continued worldwide until well into the 1960s. *''

Expedition! ''Expedition!'' is an American travel documentary television series that was broadcast in the United States on ABC Tuesday nights in the 1960–61 television season and Monday nights in the 1961–62 television season. Summary Producer John ...

'' - Craig was host of the 1960-62 ABC-TV documentary series ''

'', shown Tuesday (and then Monday) nights 7-7:30 PM. Old friends Fae Thomas and Peter Furst produced. Scheuer, Steven H., "Expedition Has Gimmick — Newest in Civic Service"
'' Milawukee Sentinel'', 21 Aug 1960, p. 74 *''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.Pearson, Howard. "TV HIGHLIGHTS: Man of Adventure"
''Salt Lake City (Utah) Deseret News'', 27 Jan 1966, p. 17 Episodes continued to appear on national television through the late 1970s.Television schedule, 20 Jul 1977
''The Reading Eagle'', TV SECTION, 17 Jul 1977, p. 10

Marriage and family

Craig married a woman named Gloria Rovzar 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.Obituary: "John D. Craig; Photographer of Underwater Scenes, TV Host"
''Los Angeles Times'', 12 September 1997, accessed 29 December 2010 John D. Craig experienced a debilitating stroke in 1990. He died August 30, 1997, in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, at the age of 94. He was buried at the Rose Hills cemetery in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

References

External links

Obituary: "John D. Craig; Photographer of Underwater Scenes, TV Host"
''Los Angeles Times'', 12 Sep 1997 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, John D. 1903 births 1997 deaths American male television actors American underwater divers Place of birth missing Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Underwater photographers 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American writers 20th-century American male writers