32-483: Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, broadcaster , and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation . Thomas
64-553: A bachelor of science degree. The next year, he received both a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Denver and began work for the Chicago Journal , writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology ), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received
96-665: A correspondent at the Battle of Belleau Wood , France. Gibbons accompanied the Fifth Marines where his account of the battle that he submitted violated wartime censorship by mentioning that he was serving with the U.S. Marine Corps . Gibbons' colourful prose added to the reputation of the Marines. Gibbons lost an eye after being hit by German gunfire at Château-Thierry in June 1918 while attempting to rescue an American marine. Always afterwards he wore
128-501: A decade. Another example would be American stand-up comedian Joe Rogan , who is a commentator and post-fight interviewer in UFC . The term is commonly used in many countries including Canada, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Barbados, Sri Lanka , India, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Australia, Egypt, Andorra, Malta, San Marino, Japan and South Korea. In the US , such a person is typically called
160-569: A distinctive white patch on his left eye. He was given France's greatest honor, the Croix de Guerre with palm, for his valor on the field of battle. In 1918-1927 he was the chief of the Chicago Tribune's foreign service, and director of the paper's European office. He gained fame for his coverage of wars and famines in Poland, Russia and Morocco. He was fired in 1926, started to write novels, and became
192-606: A film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama , Seven Wonders of the World , and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date. Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba . Then, in late September 1930, he took over as
224-496: A host, such as in the terminology talk show host , or an MC ( Master of ceremonies ). In the context of TV news programs, they are known as anchors . Floyd Gibbons Floyd Phillips Gibbons (July 16, 1887 – September 23, 1939) was the war correspondent for the Chicago Tribune during World War I . One of radio's first news reporters and commentators, he was famous for a fast-talking delivery style. Floyd Gibbons lived
256-541: A life of danger of which he often wrote and spoke. Floyd Phillips Gibbons was born on July 16, 1887, in Washington, D.C. Gibbons moved with his family to Des Moines, Iowa and lived there from 1900 to 1903. He attended schools in Iowa and Minneapolis . His father owned a trading stamp business for merchants in Iowa. Gibbons attended Gonzaga College High School , and later studied law at Georgetown University , from which he
288-638: A normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio. In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio. His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became
320-444: A programme about their field of expertise (for instance, David Attenborough ). Some are celebrities who have made their name in one area, then leverage their fame to get involved in other areas. Examples of this latter group include British comedian Michael Palin who now presents programmes about travel (such as Around the World in 80 Days ), and American actor Alan Alda , who presented Scientific American Frontiers for over
352-552: A radio commentator for NBC. He narrated newsreels , for which he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Gibbons narrated the 1930 documentary With Byrd at the South Pole and narrated a series of Vitaphone short subjects from 1937 to 1939 as well as writing several of them. He narrated Vitaphone 's "Your True Adventures" series of short films, which began as a radio program in which Gibbons paid twenty-five dollars for
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#1732859307385384-431: A series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land". Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death. Thomas
416-613: A story first. He moved to the Chicago Tribune in 1912. He became well known for covering the Pancho Villa Expedition in 1916. He became a London correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in 1917 and reported on the 1917 torpedoing of the British ship RMS Laconia , on which he was a passenger. The Chicago Tribune appreciated his keen eye for detail, and vivid splashy style. It sent him to England to cover World War I . As
448-601: Is a person who introduces or hosts television programs , often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people who garnered fame in other fields to take on this role, but some people have made their name solely within the field of presenting—such as children's television series or infomercials —to become television personalities. Often, presenters may double for being famed in other fields, such as an actor , model , comedian , musician , doctor , etc. Others may be subject-matter experts, such as scientists or politicians, serving as presenters for
480-761: Is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award . In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement , and was honored at the 1973 Peabody Awards . In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom . He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Thomas
512-464: Is named for Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. The following is a selection of films with Thomas as host or narrator. The following is a list of films with Thomas as the Subject. Television presenter A television presenter (or television host , some become a " television personality ")
544-489: The 1940 Republican National Convention , the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB Schenectady (now WRGB ). He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention to the few thousand people who had television sets in those three cities. In April 1945, Thomas flew in
576-485: The President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company , which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation . The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey . His signature sign-on
608-642: The best story submitted by a listener. In 1929, he had his own half-hour radio program heard Wednesday nights on the NBC Red Network at 10:30. Competition from Paul Whiteman 's show on CBS Radio , however, brought Gibbons' show to an end by March 1930. In 1927 he wrote a biography of the Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) titled The Red Knight of Germany . He also wrote the speculative fiction world-war novel The Red Napoleon in 1929. The Red Napoleon
640-527: The broadcast which he sold to CBS, like coverage of the Coronation Ice Show in Lake Placid , New York in 1934. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940, over W2XBS (now WNBC ) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast. In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of
672-566: The degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university. Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska , he hit upon the idea of the travelogue , movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I , Lowell went to Europe to report on the conflict. Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on
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#1732859307385704-507: The host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons . On the program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people. By October 1930, he was including more news stories. It was at this point that
736-520: The program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network. After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco . He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce
768-587: The voluntary nature of these couplings, which he portrays as making them more repellant. When Gibbons suggested that Frank Buck write about Buck's animal collecting adventures, Buck collaborated with Edward Anthony on Bring 'Em Back Alive which became a bestseller in 1930. Gibbons was planning to start covering World War II in Europe before his death. He died of a heart attack on September 24, 1939, at his "Cherry Valley" farm in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He
800-534: The war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened
832-471: Was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs. Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He
864-432: Was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox 's twice weekly Movietone newsreels until 1952, and provided the voice-over for numerous short subject film series, including Lowell Thomas' Magic Carpet of Movietone and Going Places with Lowell Thomas . Thomas went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama ,
896-492: Was born in Woodington, Ohio , to Harry and Harriet ( née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado . Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper. In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee . The following year, he graduated from Valparaiso University with
928-510: Was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. In "The Floyd Gibbons Story", a 1962 episode of The Untouchables , Gibbons was portrayed by Scott Brady . These were all produced by Warner Brothers , filmed at the Vitaphone studio in New York with Joseph Henabery directing. Each recreates a “heart stopping” event with actors and often presenting the real person behind the story in
960-745: Was expelled. Gibbons was known by his contemporaries as "Gib". He married a woman from Minneapolis and they were later divorced. Gibbons began as a police reporter on the Minneapolis Daily News in 1907, but was fired. He also worked for the Milwaukee Free Press and the Minneapolis Tribune . While working for the Tribune in 1910, he was arrested for cutting a telegraph line in Winter, Wisconsin to prevent other newspapers from reporting
992-625: Was inducted into many Halls of Fame: Named after him are the Thomas Mountains in Antarctica , a museum in Victor, Colorado , as well as awards from a number of organizations: 1947 Overseas Press Club of America, 1980 The Explorers Club , 1984 Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, and 2012 Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado. The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York
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1024-429: Was the first invasion novel to combine fears of yellow peril with fears of communism. The novel's focus on the sexual qualities of its villain was unusual for "yellow peril" stories of the period, which tended to portray their non-white villains as asexual or unappealing. Gibbons describes his villain as taking a series of white female lovers and encouraging his non-white soldiers to do the same. Gibbons emphasizes
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