Walter Laurence Hackett (usually referred to as Walter Hackett, sometimes given as Walter L. Hackett or Walter Lawrence Hackett, and erroneously given as Walter C. Hackett) (November 10, 1876 – January 20, 1944) was an American playwright and theater manager. A native of Oakland, California, Hackett attended grammar school in that city before continuing his education at a boarding school in Canada, the country of his father's birth. He ran away from that institution to become a sailor, and subs…