[4] Seaton attended Exeter Academy[5] and was meant to go to Yale but instead auditioned for Jesse Bonstelle's drama school in Detroit.

John L. Barrett played the Lone Ranger on test broadcasts of the series in early January 1933, but when the program became part of the regular schedule, Seaton was cast in the title role.

In later years, he claimed to have devised the cry "Hi-yo, Silver" because he couldn't whistle for his horse as the script required.

[7] He was credited on the scripts for Student Tour (1934) and The Winning Ticket (1935) and did some uncredited work with Robert Pirosh on A Night at the Opera (1935).

[8] Seaton went to Columbia where he was credited on the scripts for The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940), This Thing Called Love (1940) and Bedtime Story (1941).

[6] In the early 1940s, Seaton joined 20th Century Fox, where he remained for the rest of the decade, writing scripts for That Night in Rio (1941) with Don Ameche and Alice Faye.

For a time, he specialized in musicals and comedy: Moon Over Miami (1941), with Betty Grable and Ameche, and Charley's Aunt (1941), with Jack Benny.

[citation needed] Seaton wrote a historical war film, Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942), then did the comedies The Magnificent Dope (1942) with Ameche and Henry Fonda, and The Meanest Man in the World (1943) with Jack Benny.

[citation needed] But Not Goodbye, Seaton's 1944 Broadway debut as a playwright, closed after only 23 performances,[9] although it later was adapted for the 1946 MGM film The Cockeyed Miracle by Karen DeWolf.

[8] Seaton wrote and directed the comedies Apartment for Peggy (1948) with William Holden and Jeanne Crain, and Chicken Every Sunday (1949) with Dan Dailey.

He wrote a screenplay adapted from a Harry Segall play and directed For Heaven's Sake (1950) with Clifton Webb.

[citation needed] In November 1950, Seaton and Perlberg signed a multi-million dollar contract with Paramount for six years.

[12] They produced, but did not write or direct, the comedy Rhubarb (1951), Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), and Somebody Loves Me (1952) with Betty Hutton.

[citation needed] Seaton and Perlberg produced The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), directed by Mark Robson, with Holden and Kelly.

[citation needed] Seaton wrote and directed The Proud and Profane (1956) with William Holden and Deborah Kerr, which was a box office disappointment.

[13] Seaton and Perlberg were borrowed by Paramount to direct and produce a comedy with Clark Gable and Doris Day, Teacher's Pet (1958).

[15] Perlberg-Seaton Productions moved to MGM where Seaton directed Kirk Douglas in The Hook (1963), a Korean War drama.