Ted Hartley Movies and Career Information

Ted Hartley (born November 6, 1935) has been a US Navy fighter pilot, an investment banker, an actor, producer, and is currently CEO of RKO Pictures. He is married to actress Dina Merrill. He has one son, Philippe Hartley (1955-). Hartley was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised on a farm in Iowa. His father died when he was 5, causing financial hardships for the family. At the age of 14, he entered a contest sponsored by Warner Bros., wrote a 50-word essay on “Why I like to fly”, and won some flying lessons. Hartley attended Shattuck Military School in Minnesota, but at the age of 16 he had already won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, after training, he served as a carrier-based fighter pilot, flying F-11s. He also served two years as a congressional liaison for The Pentagon and had a tour as a Presidential White House Aide. In May 1964, while he was a United States Navy Lt. Commander, his fighter jet crash-landed on the deck of the Navy Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet, while the carrier was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Hartley was thrown from the plane on impact, and it then exploded and toppled over the side of the carrier. Hartley's back was broken and his military