Biography

John Henry Faulk was born on August 21, 1913 in Austin, Texas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Best Man (1964) and All the Way Home (1963). He was married to Elizabeth Peake, Lynn Smith and Harriet Elizabeth Wood. He died on April 9, 1990 in Austin, Texas, USA.

Blacklisted during the 1950s from his job as a radio personality because he was accused of being a member of several alleged Communist-front groups. He successfully sued Aware, Inc., which screened actors on behalf of the networks for supposed ties to Communism. His suit was largely responsible for breaking the blacklist on television. The incident, and subsequent trial, was the basis for the made-for-TV film Fear on Trial (1975).

He served in the US Merchant Marines in World War II before joining the US Army late in the war.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 285-286. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.