Linton Wells | |
|---|---|
_1.jpg) L.t.r.Frank R. Strayer,Ruth Elder,Linton Wells andEdward Cronjager on the set ofMoran of the Marines (1928) | |
| Born | (1893-04-01)April 1, 1893 |
| Died | (1976-01-14)January 14, 1976 |
| Occupation(s) | News reporter andcorrespondent |
| Spouse | Fay Gillis Wells |
| Relatives | Linton Wells II |
Linton Wells (1893–1976) was an American foreign correspondent, world traveler and pioneer broadcaster.
Born inLouisville, Kentucky, on April 1, 1893, he attended theUS Naval Academy with the Class of 1914, but left before graduation. He began his career as a foreign correspondent with the China Press inShanghai in 1912, coveringSun Yat Sen and theXinhai Revolution. Returning from China early inWorld War I via Europe, he covered a revolution inMexico, learned to fly in 1915, and helped build the first dam inSamoa.
After service in the Navy during World War I, he covered theRussian revolution, being imprisoned briefly by the Bolsheviks nearIrkutsk. Following reporting from East Asia, he returned to the States in 1921 to cover Hollywood and events along the West Coast, returning to Japan in 1923, just in time to be injured in theGreat Kantō earthquake of September 1, 1923.
In 1924, while working for theAssociated Press, he accompanied the US Army aircraftBoston during theCalcutta toKarachi leg of the first round-the-world flight with the permission of the flight commander.[1] The following year he and Leigh Wade, who had been the pilot of theBoston during the First World Flight, made the first non-stop automobile trip betweenLos Angeles andNew York (167 hours and 50 minutes).
In 1926 he andEdward Steptoe Evans set a record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe (28 days, 14 hours, 36 min). The following year he participated in fighting inNicaragua, and returned to newspaper work in 1929 reporting from Europe for the International News Service.
From 1932 to early 1934 he reported from Moscow, where he met his future wife, the aviatorFay Gillis. After covering the coronation of the Puppet EmperorPuyi in Manchukuo, he returned to the US.
He married Fay Gillis on April 1, 1935, and, a few months later, they spent their honeymoon covering theItalian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) for theHerald Tribune. He published an autobiography,Blood on the Moon, in 1937.[2][3]
After returning to the States to cover Hollywood for theHerald Tribune, he and his wife pioneered overseas radio broadcasts from Latin America in 1938 forThe Magic Key of RCA. They both were founding members of theOverseas Press Club.[4]
In 1939, at the suggestion of PresidentRoosevelt, and in support of a secret British request, he and Fay investigated potential locations in Africa for a Jewish homeland. On December 7, 1941, after the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor, he was part of one of the first television news broadcasts. From 1942 to 1946 he and Fay headed theUS Commercial Company in West Africa, buyingstrategic materials for the war effort.
Returning to the States after the birth of their sonLinton Wells II inLuanda,Angola in 1946,[5] he owned a radio station in New York, lived for a time on a houseboat in Florida, returned to New York, and worked for theAmerican Export Lines.
In 1962 he came to Washington in 1963 to open the Washington News Bureau for theStorer Broadcasting Company (then the largest privately owned radio and television network in the US), serving as the Washington Bureau Chief until 1972.
In addition to his autobiography, he wroteAround the World in Twenty-Eight Days,Jumping Meridians,Salute to Valor and a play,Suzanna. The 1923 silent filmSuzanna was based on Wells's play.[6]
Linton Wells died in Washington, DC in January 1976. He was survived by his wife and son, two daughters, Barbara Church and Pat Ramacciotti, from his first marriage, and two granddaughters.
Media related toLinton Wells at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
