John Phillip Falter was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska but raised mostly in Atchison, Kansas. He started his career by selling an illustration to a pulp magazine at twenty years old.  He soon was being commissioned to do work for bigger  clients including Gulf Oil Company.  Falter became one of the most noted cover illustrators in the nation.  He painted 187 covers for the Saturday Evening Post.  

     Falter studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute before moving to New York City to futher his career.  He attended classes at the Grand Central School of Art and studied under illustrator George Wright (1873-1951).   
     As well as scenes of mid-west that the majority of his work was focused on he also was a portrait artist and had the opportunity to paint jazz idols such as Louis Armstrong and Art Tatum.
    Falter painted portraits of a number of famous people In his later years including James Cagney, and Admiral Halsey.  During World War II Falter served in the Navy as a "lieutenant with special art duties".