Ted Hartley (born November 6, 1924) is an American retired U.S. Navy fighter pilot, investment banker, actor, film and stage producer, and CEO of

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

. He was married to heiress, actress and philanthropist Dina Merrill until her death in 2017. His last acting credit was 2012 and his last producing credit was in 2015.

Early life

Hartley was born on November 6, 1924, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, to Dorothy Ringwalt and Eugene Hartley. He attended Shattuck Military School in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and, by the age of 16, he had won an appointment to the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

. After flight training, among other tours, he served as a carrier-based

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

, flying F-11s following their introduction in 1956.

Career

As a Navy officer, Hartley had tours as a congressional liaison for the Pentagon, as a Presidential aide, as well as a carrier-based fighter pilot. In May 1964, his F9F8 fighter crashed during a carrier landing. He was thrown from the jet, suffered a broken back, and was medically retired from the Navy. After Hartley's military career prematurely ended, he attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and pursued a career in investment banking, becoming Vice President for First Western Financial Corporation. His next career was in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, as an actor, where he took on the role of Reverend Jerry Bedford on the 1960s television series '' Peyton Place''. Hartley had featured roles in films with

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

, and then in the late 1970s was cast in the series '' Chopper One'' (on ABC), about helicopter flying police officers. The series was short lived, and thereafter Hartley moved to

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

, where he volunteered as the Managing Artistic Director at a local theater, and then turned to

commodity trading A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products. The primary sector includes agricultural products, energy products, and metals. Soft commodities may be perishable and harvested, w ...

full-time. In 1987, Hartley became involved with Pavilion Communications Inc., a company designed to acquire smaller entertainment companies. Through this, Hartley learned of an opportunity to take over

. He and wife Dina Merrill purchased 51% of the company and merged Pavilion Communications with RKO Pictures Corporation in 1991, forming RKO Pictures, LLC. Their first major project was the 1998 remake of '' Mighty Joe Young''. As chairman and chief executive officer of RKO Pictures, Hartley has led RKO's worldwide development and production activities in movies and television as well as the expansion of the RKO brand to stage and other entertainment and distribution venues. He produced a remake of '' Mighty Joe Young'' (1998) with Disney, ''

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

'' (2000) with Miramax, a remake of ''

The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...

'' (2002), and ''

Shade Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to: * Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color) * Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight * Shades or sunglasses * Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...

'' (2003). For RKO Stage, he produced the musicals '' Never Gonna Dance'' (2003), '' Curtains'' (2007), ''

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

'' (2008), '' 13'' (2008), all on Broadway, and ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or ...

'' (2012) in the West End, winner of the 2013

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

for Best New Musical.

Personal life

In 2013, Hartley was elected chairman of the board of Orbis International, a nonprofit eye-healthcare organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide that he has been involved with since 2010. A widower since 2017, Hartley belongs to a number of motion picture and television guilds and associations, is a board member of the Steadman Philippon Research Institute (formerly, Steadman-Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation), and serves as director of the Harvard Business School Association of Southern California. He is also a painter. Hartley turned 100 in 2024.

Producer credits

Film

* '' Barely Lethal'' (producer) * '' A Late Quartet'' (producer) * ''

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of t ...

'' (producer) * ''

Are We Done Yet? ''Are We Done Yet?'' is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Steve Carr and starring Ice Cube. The film is the second installment in the ''Are We There Yet?'' franchise, and the sequel to the 2005 movie of the same name. The plot of ...

'' (producer) * ''Laura Smiles'' (producer) * ''

'' (producer) * '' The Gin Game'' (executive producer) * ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (executive producer) * ''Ritual'' (producer) * '' Mighty Joe Young'' (producer) * '' Milk & Money'' (producer) * '' False Identity'' (executive producer) * ''Women And Men: Stories Of Seduction'' (executive producer)

Stage productions

* ''Never Gonna Dance'' - 2003 Broadway musical * ''Curtains'' - 2007 Broadway musical * ''Gypsy'' - 2008 Broadway musical (revival starring Patti Lupone) * ''13'' - 2008 Broadway musical * ''Top Hat'' - 2012 West End Musical

Actor credits

Film

* '' Walk, Don't Run'' (1966) - Yuri Andreyovitch * ''

Murderers' Row Murderers' Row were the baseball teams of the New York Yankees in the late 1920s, widely considered some of the best teams in history. The nickname is particularly used for the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koen ...

'' (1966) - Guard * ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy stage play by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ...

'' (1967) - Frank * '' Ice Station Zebra'' (1968) - Lieutenant Jonathan Hansen * '' The Man'' (1972) - Press Secretary * ''

High Plains Drifter ''High Plains Drifter'' is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who ...

'' (1973) - Lewis Belding * '' Aloha, Bobby and Rose'' (1975) - Cop * ''

Moving Violation A moving violation or traffic violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "moving" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include ...

'' (1976) - Prosecutor * '' Matilda'' (1978) - Payne Smith * '' Caddyshack II'' (1988) - Club Member * '' False Identity'' (1990) - Inn Keeper * '' The Player'' (1992) - Party Guest (uncredited) * ''Milk & Money'' (1996) - Lingerie Salesman * ''

'' (2003) - 'Teddy' The Surgeon * ''Laura Smiles'' (2005) - Therapist * ''

Race to Witch Mountain ''Race to Witch Mountain'' is a 2009 American science fiction adventure film directed by Andy Fickman. The film stars Dwayne Johnson alongside AnnaSophia Robb, Carla Gugino, Ciarán Hinds, Alexander Ludwig, Tom Everett Scott, and Christoph ...

'' (2009) - Four-Star General V. Lewton * '' A Late Quartet'' (2012) - Winning Bidder

References

External links

* * * ''

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, April 19, 199
(pdf)

U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association newsletter, "Ted Hartley '46" (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Ted 1924 births Living people American men centenarians Businesspeople from California Businesspeople from Nebraska American male film actors American male television actors Film producers from Nebraska American chief executives Harvard Business School alumni United States Naval Aviators