MacDonald, Philip

The English crime writer Philip MacDonald was born in London. Both his grandfather George and his father Ronald were authors. His mother, Constance Robertson, was an actress. Philip MacDonald was a shy man who rarely talked about himself, and little is known about his early life. He served in the cavalry in Mesopotamia during the First World War. After the war he trained horses for the army and show jumped. He married the author Ruth F. Howard in 1931, and the couple moved to Hollywood where MacDonald became a screenwriter and Great Dane breeder.