 Danburg was born in Connecticut and attended Columbia University and Northwestern University.He married his wife Dorothy Daniels (nee Smith) in 1931; they both subsequently became professional writers, and collaborated frequently.Danburg typically wrote under the alias Norman A. Daniels, but he also published under the pen names John L. Benton, Frank Johnson, C. K. M. Scanlon, and house names including Will Garth and G. Wayman Jones.