William A. Wellman

A great-great-great grandson of Francis Lewis of New York, one of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence.

Father of Cissy Wellman , actress Gloria Wellman , Kathleen Kitty Wellman , Maggie Wellman , actor Michael Wellman , and William Wellman Jr.. Father-in-law of James Franciscus.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945." Pages 1185-1194. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Directed 7 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Fredric March , Janet Gaynor , Brian Donlevy , Robert Mitchum , James Whitmore , Jan Sterling , and Claire Trevor.

Wellman was an ace during WWI and served in the French Foreign Legion before becoming a fighter pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps. He won the Croix de Guerre with two palms before being shot down and sent home, seriously wounded with a broken back.

He was discovered while playing hockey by Douglas Fairbanks , who encouraged him to come to Hollywood. Wellman obliged by flying his Spad and landing on a polo field located in Fairbanks backyard. After an acting job in Fairbanks The Knickerbocker Buckaroo (1919) , Wellman worked as a messenger boy, property man, assistant cutter and assistant director before directing his first film in 1923.

The same year he wrote his autobiography "A Short Time for Insanity," Wellman was recovering from a nerve disease and wrote a second book, "Growing Old Disgracefully" about his five mothers-in-law, but it was never published.

Buddy Rogers , Gary Cooper , James Cagney , Susan Hayward , Ida Lupino and Robert Mitchum were all elevated to stardom after appearing in a Wellman film.

Loretta Young , who made four films with Wellman, referred to him as "a fine director. He was one of the best-looking men I had ever seen. Every actress he worked with, including me, had a crush on him".

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , son of Wellmans benefactor, referred to the director as "reckless and wild," and added, "I think that anyone who knew him and his work would agree that he was a very good director indeed and among those under contract to Warner Brothera at the time, one of the three or four best on the roster".

According to Eddie Bracken Wellman "was truly a wild man by being overly energetic. His muscles would move when he talked. He had a marvelous sense of humor. Bill was the kind of guy who would play an awful lot on the set. He would build bonfires under the directors chair when someone else was sitting there or give you a hot foot. Hed have a whip that had an electric charge in it and then touch you on the fanny, and youd jump sky high. He was a practical joker and a tough man. Put up your fists against Bill, and you had a fight going on that would take at least an hour to end. He was just that type of man, and yet he was a patsy at the same time. People loved him, of course".

Barbara Stanwyck was his favorite actress.

The High and the Mighty was the biggest grosser of all of his films.

Story of G.I. Joe was Wellmans favorite of all his films.

MGM studio head Dore Schary said of him, " , , , a spiky man; highly independent, with great respect for a script. When Wellman worked with a producer who he felt knew what he was doing, he was no trouble. He didnt have much trouble with [Darryl F. Zanuck ] because he respected him. Now, when he got into the hands of other producers who he felt were not that deeply involved, then he would brush them off, and he would be murder. Hed belt anybody that got in his way".

While stationed in France, in WWI he joined the French Foreign Legions Lafayette Flying Corps, N.87, les Chats Noir (Black Cat Group). The plane he flew was Nieuport 24 fighter, which he named "Celia" after his mother. He was credited with three recorded "kills" of enemy aircraft, plus five probable kills. He was shot down in combat and survived the crash, but walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He received the Croix du Guerre for his service. After the war, he returned home and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps for two years, where he taught combat tactics to new pilots at Rockwell Field in San Diego.

He based much of his work on the film Wings on his experiences as a combat pilot during World War I.

When I made The Public Enemy (1931) , I was way ahead in thinking.

No love story, but loaded with sex and violence.

The best director is the director whose handprints are not on the film.