thedrifter
06-14-09, 08:27 AM
Ex-Marine wrote, worked in films
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Jack Lewis, a decorated Marine Corps officer, screenwriter, pulp-novelist, movie stuntman, co-founder of Gun World magazine and self-described “reporter, drunk, editor and hobo,” has died. He was 84.
Lewis died May 24 of lung cancer in Hawaii, a week after marrying his longtime companion, Stephanie Gonsalves.
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Born in Iowa on Nov. 13, 1924, Lewis —- whose father was an Army cavalry officer —- enlisted in the Marines at age 18. He saw duty as a machine-gunner during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery as a combat correspondent in Korea. He was recalled to duty during the Vietnam War and later retired as a lieutenant colonel.
“He was a maverick, very ambitious, always looking for something new, and total Marine Corps,” said Ralph Austin, a retired master sergeant who served with Lewis in Korea and Vietnam.
After World War II, Lewis received a degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and returned to the Marines to help with training films.
While at California’s Camp Pendleton, he was assigned as a technical adviser to the 1949 movie “Sands of Iwo Jima.” Lewis and the film’s star, John Wayne, struck up a friendship, solidified by a mutual love of guns, strong drink and all things military.
“White Horse, Black Hat: A Quarter Century on Hollywood’s Poverty Row,” published in 2002, is Lewis’ account of the famous, near-famous and never-famous who toiled in the movie industry during the days of low-budget Westerns. Among the stories are anecdotes about a young and surly Steve McQueen, a famous but insecure Audie Murphy, and Slim Pickens, who needed $200 to buy a mule.
Besides his wife, Lewis is survived by five children from previous marriages and eight grandchildren.
Ellie
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Jack Lewis, a decorated Marine Corps officer, screenwriter, pulp-novelist, movie stuntman, co-founder of Gun World magazine and self-described “reporter, drunk, editor and hobo,” has died. He was 84.
Lewis died May 24 of lung cancer in Hawaii, a week after marrying his longtime companion, Stephanie Gonsalves.
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Born in Iowa on Nov. 13, 1924, Lewis —- whose father was an Army cavalry officer —- enlisted in the Marines at age 18. He saw duty as a machine-gunner during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery as a combat correspondent in Korea. He was recalled to duty during the Vietnam War and later retired as a lieutenant colonel.
“He was a maverick, very ambitious, always looking for something new, and total Marine Corps,” said Ralph Austin, a retired master sergeant who served with Lewis in Korea and Vietnam.
After World War II, Lewis received a degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and returned to the Marines to help with training films.
While at California’s Camp Pendleton, he was assigned as a technical adviser to the 1949 movie “Sands of Iwo Jima.” Lewis and the film’s star, John Wayne, struck up a friendship, solidified by a mutual love of guns, strong drink and all things military.
“White Horse, Black Hat: A Quarter Century on Hollywood’s Poverty Row,” published in 2002, is Lewis’ account of the famous, near-famous and never-famous who toiled in the movie industry during the days of low-budget Westerns. Among the stories are anecdotes about a young and surly Steve McQueen, a famous but insecure Audie Murphy, and Slim Pickens, who needed $200 to buy a mule.
Besides his wife, Lewis is survived by five children from previous marriages and eight grandchildren.
Ellie