Weld, John, 1905-2003

Weld was born on Feb. 24, 1905 in Birmingham, AL; attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 1921-2; became a stuntman in Hollywood films, 1923-6; became a reporter, often from Paris, for several newspapers, including the Paris times and the New York herald; later worked for the Ford Motor Co. before becoming a producer of film documentaries; published works include Don't you cry for me (1940), The pardners (1941), Sabbath has no end (1942), Mark Pfeiffer, M.D. (1943), The missionary : a novel of the early Southwest (1981), and the two autobiographical volumes, Young man in Paris (1985) and Fly away home : memoirs of a Hollywood stunt man (1991).

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Weld moved to Hollywood in 1923 and worked as a stuntman and reporter. He joined the staff of the Paris, France edition of the New York Tribune in 1926. He returned to Hollywood in 1932 and worked as a free-lance writer and secretary to Walter Huston. While publishing novels and short stories, he worked in public relations, as a Ford dealer, and as publisher of the "Laguna Beach Post." He began producing travel documentaries in 1960 and in 1976 became an associate of Vandeburg-Linkletter and Associates. He married actress Gigi Parrish in 1937.

Biography

Weld was born on February 24, 1905 in Birmingham, Alabama; attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 1921-22; became a stuntman in Hollywood films, 1923-26; became a reporter, often from Paris, for several newspapers, including the Paris times and the New York herald ; later worked for the Ford Motor Company before becoming a producer of film documentaries; published works include Don't you cry for me (1940), The pardners (1941), Sabbath has no end (1942), Mark Pfeiffer, M.D. (1943), The missionary: a novel of the early Southwest (1981), and the two autobiographical volumes, Young man in Paris (1985) and Fly away home: memoirs of a Hollywood stunt man (1991).