Jonathan Frederick Lawton (also known as J. F. Lawton), born on August 11, 1960 in Riverside, California, is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. Screen credits include Pretty Woman, Mistress, Blankman, Under Siege, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, The Hunted, Chain Reaction, DOA: Dead or Alive, Jackson, V.I.P. and under the assumed name JD Athens Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death and Pizza Man.
Lawton was born on August 11, 1960, in Riverside, California. He is the son of author and novelist Harry Lawton and Georgeann Leona Lawton (née Honegger), a pianist. The couple met in Berkeley while attending the University of California. Later they moved to Riverside, where Harry was hired as a reporter for The Press-Enterprise.
As a child, he suffered from severe dyslexia making school life very difficult. It took him many years of practice, hard work and patience to control his learning disabilities. Despite the challenge, he decided to become a writer like his father anyway. Harry Lawton, independently of his son's disability, always made sure to give him as much incentive as possible. To this day he credits his father for always being supportive of him
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