[1][2] When he was a child, his family left the Russian Empire and moved to the United States, settling in New York City.

At a young age he took the name John Malcolm Stahl and began working, first as a theatre actor and then in the city's growing motion picture industry.

From 1927 through 1929 Stahl was an executive at the short-lived independent studio Tiffany Pictures, and renamed the company "Tiffany-Stahl Productions".

In 1934, he directed the film Imitation of Life, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Stahl continued to produce and direct major productions as well as filler shorts up to the time of his death.