William A. Wellman
William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on aviation themes, a particular passion. He also directed several well-regarded satirical comedies. His 1927 film, Wings, was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1st Academy Awards ceremony.[1]
"William Wellman" redirects here. For his son, the actor, see William Wellman Jr.
William A. Wellman
December 9, 1975 (aged 79)
1919–1958
1917–1918 (FR)
1918–1919 (U.S.)
Beginning his film career as an actor, he went on to direct over 80 films, at times co-credited as producer and consultant, from the silent era through the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was nominated for four Academy Awards: three Best Director Oscars for the original A Star Is Born (1937), Battleground (1949), and The High and the Mighty (1954) and one in Best Original Story for A Star is Born, which he won. In 1973, he received the Directors Guild of America's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was previously a decorated combat pilot during World War I, serving in the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French Air Force, and earning a Croix de Guerre with two palms for valorous action.[2]
Early life[edit]
Wellman was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, Arthur Gouverneur Wellman, was a Boston Brahmin. William was a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Puritan Thomas Wellman, who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony circa 1640.[3] He was also a great-great-great-grandson of Welsh-born Francis Lewis of New York, one of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence. Wellman's mother, Cecilia McCarthy, was an Irish immigrant.
During his teenage years, Wellman often found himself in trouble with authorities. He was expelled from Newton High School in Newtonville, Massachusetts for dropping a stink bomb on the principal's head.[4][5] He was also arrested and placed on probation for car theft.[6] His mother, who actually worked as a probation officer, was asked to address Congress on the subject of juvenile delinquency.[7] Later, young William worked as a salesman, as a general laborer in a lumber yard, and as a player on a minor-league hockey team.[6]
In World War I, Wellman enlisted in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps to serve as a driver in Europe.[8] While in Paris, Wellman joined the French Foreign Legion and was assigned on December 3, 1917, as a fighter pilot, becoming the first American to join Escadrille N.87 in the Lafayette Flying Corps (not the sub-unit Lafayette Escadrille as usually stated),[9][10] where he earned himself the nickname "Wild Bill", and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with two palms.[2] N.87, les Chats Noir (Black Cat Group) was stationed at Lunéville in the Alsace-Lorraine sector and was equipped with Nieuport 17 and later Nieuport 24 "pursuit" aircraft. Wellman's combat experience culminated in three recorded "kills", along with five probables, although he was ultimately shot down by German anti-aircraft fire on March 21, 1918.[11] Wellman survived the crash but he walked with a pronounced limp for the rest of his life.[8]
Wellman's air-combat credits include the following in 1918:[12][13]
Maréchal des logis (Sergeant) Wellman received a medical discharge from the Foreign Legion and returned to the United States a few weeks later. He spoke at War Savings Stamp rallies in his French uniform. In September 1918 his book about French flight school and his eventful four months at the front, Go Get 'Em! (written by Wellman with the help of Eliot Harlow Robinson), was published. He joined the United States Army Air Service, but was too late to fly for America in the war. Stationed at Rockwell Field in San Diego, he taught combat tactics to new pilots.
Wellman revealed near the end of his life that he had married a French woman named Renee during his time in The Lafayette Flying Corps. She was killed in a bombing raid during the war.[15] Later, between 1918 and 1934, he married four additional times in the United States:
Dorothy starred in Wellman's 1933 film Wild Boys of The Road and had seven children with him, including actors Michael Wellman, William Wellman Jr., Maggie Wellman, and Cissy Wellman.[1] His daughter Kathleen "Kitty" Wellman married actor James Franciscus, although they later divorced. His first daughter is Patty Wellman, and he had a third son, Tim Wellman.
William Wellman died of leukemia in 1975 at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles.[6] He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea. His widow Dorothy, at age 95, died on September 16, 2009, in Brentwood, California.[1]
Career assessments[edit]
Decades after Wellman's death, William Jr. wrote two biographies about his father, The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture (2006) and Wild Bill Wellman—Hollywood Rebel (2015). Fellow filmmakers have also examined Wellman's career. Richard Schickel in 1973 devoted an episode of his PBS series The Men Who Made the Movies to Wellman,[27] and in 1996, Todd Robinson made the feature-length documentary Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick.[28]