Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her life, Earhart embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance, she has become a cultural icon. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and she set many other records; she was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
George Palmer Putnam was an American publisher, writer and explorer. Known for his marriage to Amelia Earhart, he had also achieved fame as one of the most successful promoters in the United States during the 1930s.
Albert Paul Mantz was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races.
Wilmer Lower Stultz was an aviator who made the first non-stop flight between New York City and Havana, Cuba. He flew Amelia Earhart when she became the first woman to make a trans-Atlantic flight. He died in a crash in 1929.
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator and a founder of the first movie stunt pilots' union. In 1930, she broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record. Barnes raced in the Women's Air Derby and was a member of the Ninety-Nines. In later years, she was known as the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant in the Mojave Desert, Southern California, catering to the legendary test pilots and aviators who worked nearby.
Frank Gifford Tallman III was a stunt pilot who worked in Hollywood during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the son of Frank Gifford Tallman, Jr. and Inez Evelyn Foster.
Love on the Run is a 1936 American romantic comedy film, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone and Reginald Owen in a story about rival newspaper correspondents assigned to cover the marriage of a socialite. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Manuel Seff and Gladys Hurlbut was based on a story by Alan Green and Julian Brodie. Love on the Run is the seventh of eight cinematic collaborations between Crawford and Gable. At the time of its release, Love on the Run was called "a lot of happy nonsense" by critics, but was a huge financial success, nonetheless.
Last Flight is a book published in 1937 consisting of diary entries and other notes compiled by aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart during her unsuccessful attempt that year at flying solo across the Pacific Ocean. Her husband, publisher George Palmer Putnam, edited the collection which was published posthumously as a tribute to his wife.
20 Hrs. 40 Min.: Our Flight in the Friendship is a book written by pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. It was first published in 1928 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, but has continued to be reprinted in periodic new editions. A special "Author's Autograph Edition" of 150 signed and numbered copies was also produced in 1928. Wilmer Stultz was the pilot. Each copy of this special edition contained a miniature silk American flag carried by Earhart in her flight on the Friendship from Boston to Wales.
Oliver Colin LeBoutillier was an American aviator and flying ace. Serving with the British Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force in the First World War, LeBoutillier scored 10 aerial victories, witnessed the death of Manfred von Richthofen and was a vigorous proponent of Captain Roy Brown as the victor over Richthofen. Post war, he became a stunt pilot for movies, a skywriter, and an aviation instructor whose most famous student was Amelia Earhart. Later, he became a civil aviation inspector.
Elgen Marion Long was a distinguished American aviator, author, and researcher who achieved numerous notable milestones in aviation. Among his impressive accomplishments, Long set fifteen aviation records, including a groundbreaking 1971 flight around the world over both poles, which earned him the FAI Gold Air Medal.
Mary Anita "Neta" Snook Southern was a pioneer aviator who achieved a long list of firsts. She was the first woman aviator in Iowa, first woman student accepted at the Curtiss Flying School in Virginia, first woman aviator to run her own aviation business and first woman to run a commercial airfield. Yet "Snooky", as her friends called her, was fated to be remembered for her relationship to Amelia Earhart. Her autobiography I Taught Amelia to Fly captures the essence of her fame and she is linked to Earhart, as her first instructor.
Amelia is a 2009 biographical film about the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. The film stars Hilary Swank as Earhart, and co-stars Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Joe Anderson. The film was directed by Mira Nair and based on The Sound of Wings by Mary S. Lovell. The film received predominantly negative reviews, with critics polarized over the performances and criticizing the film's story. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $19.6 million against a budget of $40 million.
Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno is a professional musician, teacher, author, lecturer, and farmer. In 1967, Pellegreno and a crew of three successfully flew a similar aircraft to complete a world flight that closely mirrored Amelia Earhart's flight plan in 1937. On the 30th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath in her honor over tiny Howland Island and returned to Oakland, California, completing the 28,000-mile (45,000 km) commemorative flight on July 7, 1967.
Flight for Freedom is a 1943 American drama film directed by Lothar Mendes and starring Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray and Herbert Marshall. Film historians and Earhart scholars consider Flight for Freedom an à clef version of Amelia Earhart's life story, concentrating on the sensational aspects of her disappearance during her 1937 world flight. The film's ending speculated that the main character's disappearance was connected to a secret mission on behalf of the U.S. government. As a propaganda film, the Japanese characters in Flight for Freedom were portrayed as devious and evil.
The Wright-Bellanca WB-2, was a high wing monoplane aircraft designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, initially for Wright Aeronautical then later Columbia Aircraft Corp.
Mabel Boll, known as the "Queen of Diamonds", was an American socialite involved in the early days of record-setting airplane flights in the 1920s. She garnered nicknames from the press, including "Broadway’s most beautiful blonde" and the "$250,000-a-day bride".
Wings in the Dark is a 1935 film directed by James Flood and starring Myrna Loy and Cary Grant and focusing on a daring woman aviator and an inventor thrust into a desperate situation. Wings in the Dark was produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. The film was the first that Loy and Grant made together, although Loy's biographer Emily Leider says that Wings in the Dark "wastes their talents and prompts an unintentional laugh fest." The film remains notable as a rare movie depiction of a blind protagonist during the 1930s, and is also known for its accomplished aerial photography directed by Dewey Wrigley.
Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight is a 1994 American biographical television film directed by Yves Simoneau, written by Anna Sandor, and starring Diane Keaton, Rutger Hauer and Bruce Dern. The film is based on the 1987 book Amelia Earhart: A Biography by Doris L. Rich, and depicts events in the life of Amelia Earhart, focusing on her final flight and disappearance in 1937, with her exploits in aviation and her marriage to publisher George P. Putnam being revealed in flashbacks. It aired on TNT on June 12, 1994.
Border Flight is a 1936 American aviation drama film directed by Otho Lovering and written by Stuart Anthony, Arthur J. Beckhard and Ewing Scott. The film stars Frances Farmer, John Howard, Roscoe Karns, Robert Cummings, Grant Withers and Samuel S. Hinds. Border Flight was based on the exploits of the US Coast Guard pilots, based in San Diego. In Aviation in the Cinema (1985), aviation film historian Stephen Pendo considered Border Flight, a drama that "detailed the aerial activities of the United States Coast Guard fighting a gang of smugglers."
