Hunter Ellis (born July 5, 1968 in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

military veteran and television personality. A former naval aviator, he was first noted for his participation on ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' before going on to host several television shows for the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

, including '' Tactical to Practical''; ''

Man, Moment, Machine ''Man, Moment, Machine'' is a television series which aired on the History Channel and was hosted by Hunter Ellis. It documented important events of history and detailed about a machine, the point of time it was made, how it was made, and the ou ...

''; and '' Digging for the Truth'', before hosting

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

In Harm's Way ''In Harm's Way'' is a 1965 American epic historical romantic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Patricia Neal, with a supporting cast featuring Henry Fonda in a lengthy cameo, Tom Try ...

''. He is the current spokesperson for Atomic Beam flashlight.

Background

Part of a family with a strong tradition in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, Ellis is the grandson of

Naval Aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

and Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen. He graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, before entering the Navy as a commissioned officer and being designated as a Naval Aviator following completion of flight training. Ellis graduated first in his flight training class and, during his ten-year military service, he amassed 433 carrier landings and more than two thousand hours of flight time in the

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

. After resigning his commission, Ellis worked for a time as a pilot for

FedEx Corporation FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in transportation, e-commerce, and business services. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tenness ...

Personal life

Ellis is a member of the

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...

. He previously lived in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

and currently resides in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, with his wife and two children.

''Survivor''

''Marquesas''

Ellis was a participant in the reality TV program '' Survivor: Marquesas'', which was filmed in 2001 and aired in 2002. He was initially cast on the Maraamu tribe, alongside Gina Crews, Peter Harkey, Patricia Jackson, Sarah Jones,

Rob Mariano Robert Carlo Mariano (born December 25, 1975), known by the nickname Boston Rob, is an American television personality, known for appearing in the CBS reality show ''Survivor''. He placed tenth in the show's fourth season '' Survivor: Marquesa ...

, Sean Rector, and Vecepia Towery. Ellis was the "leader" of the tribe, and formed an alliance with Crews, which helped him survive the first two votes, but after Maraamu lost the third immunity challenge in a row, he was voted out on day 9 as he was seen as a controlling threat by Mariano.

Career

Subsequently, Ellis became the host of several nationally televised programs. The first of these was '' Tactical to Practical'' (also known as ''Tactical to Practical With Hunter Ellis''), which aired on

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

as a program that took a historical look at the development of common consumer electronic products which originated as military research projects. It lasted for three seasons, with 38 episodes airing in 2003-04. In 2004, he began co-hosting ''9 on the Town'', a half-hour program airing five days a week on

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios at the ...

(channel 9), an

independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 2005, he began hosting another show on

, called ''

''. Episodes of this show focus on the historical consequences of the momentary interaction between a particular individual and a specific technology. In 2007, Ellis became the host of '' Digging for the Truth'', and in 2008 became host of ''

''. Ellis was a news anchor for

KEYE-TV KEYE-TV (channel 42) is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Metric Boulevard in North Austin and a transmitter on Waymaker ...

news in

from 2011 until he left in 2014 to focus full-time on documentaries.

Filmography

*''

'' (3 episodes, 2002) *'' Tactical to Practical'' (2003) (TV) *''9 on the Town'' (2004) (TV) *''Test Drive'' (1 episode, 2005) (TV) *''

'' (13 episodes, 2005–2007) *''Extreme Yachts'' (2006) (TV) *'' Digging for the Truth'' (8 episodes, 2007) *''

'' (2008) (TV) *''A Grail of Two Idiots'' (2012) (short) *''Misirlou'' (2013)

Awards and recognition

In 2003, Ellis received an

Emmy nomination The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for hosting ''Countdown to Survivor: The Amazon'' for

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Los Angeles, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship station of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the n ...

, and in 2006 he received a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for hosting ''Hola! Survivor: Guatemala'', also for KCBS. In an article published on December 1, 2003, ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine named him one of the 20 sexiest men on

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

References

External links

*
Hunter Ellis biography
at for '' Survivor: Marquesas'' at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Hunter 1968 births Living people United States Navy officers United States Naval Aviators University of Southern California people Aviators from Virginia Male actors from Alexandria, Virginia American political scientists Survivor (franchise) contestants Male actors from Austin, Texas