Richard Sidney Blaker was born in Kalka, India to British parents. He was an author and screenwriter. In 1909, he came to England where he studied at Oxford University. In 1915, he enlisted in the Honorable Artillery Company and served on the Somme, in Flanders, and in Palestine. He never fully recovered from having been gassed in World War I and this led to his untimely death in Los Angeles, California.