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. 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. Early life Wellman was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, Arthur Gouverneur Wellman, was a Boston Brahmin. William was a five times great-grandson of Puritan Thomas Wellman, who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony circa 1640. 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. He was also arrested and placed on probation for car theft. His mother, who actually worked as a probation officer, was asked to address Congress on the subject of juvenile delinquency. 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.