EXCLUSIVE: Matt Passmore (The Glades) and Floriana Lima (A Million Little Things) are set as the leads of Blank Slate, NBC’s drama pilot from Dean Georgaris, John Fox, Davis Entertainment and Universal Television.
09.03.2022 - 19:39 / legacy.com
John Billings was a U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II who flew Allied spies behind enemy lines for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).Billings took his first flight on his third birthday and discovered a lifelong passion. He learned to fly as a teen, before enlisting in the U.S.
Army in 1942 and undergoing aviation training. Once in the Army, Billings was recruited for Operation Greenup by the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Billings’ part in the mission involved flying three Allied spies into the Austrian Alps, where they would gain important information about Nazi activities.
It was a dangerous mission, one that other pilots refused to undertake, but Billings was up for it and successfully completed the flight. It was the first of 39 missions he would fly for the OSS during the war. Billings retired from the military as a captain in 1946.
He was honored with a Distinguished Flying Cross.After returning home from World War II, Billings became a commercial pilot, working for Eastern Airlines for decades before his retirement in 1983. He continued to fly as a volunteer for Mercy Medical Angels, which flies “Angel Flights” for patients who are unable to afford long-distance transportation for critical medical care. He piloted more than 400 flights for the organization, and in 2015, he flew around the perimeter of the U.S.
to raise awareness of Mercy Medical Angels. Billings continued volunteering for Angel Flights well into his 90s.“Everyone has some sort of addiction, and flying’s mine. But I have an excuse.
I was born with a genetic defect. My feet hurt if I stand on the ground too long.” —from a 2015 interview for the Santa Cruz SentinelCapt. John Billings, the pilot who flew the OSS’ real “Inglourious
.EXCLUSIVE: Matt Passmore (The Glades) and Floriana Lima (A Million Little Things) are set as the leads of Blank Slate, NBC’s drama pilot from Dean Georgaris, John Fox, Davis Entertainment and Universal Television.
EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Amazon in a competitive situation has taken the Jennifer Lopez-produced, Skydance TV series Backwards in Heels off the table.
For the first time at the Elton John Aids Foundation’s Academy Awards viewing party, Elton John… wasn’t there. Elton, 75, missed the gala to play a rescheduled date on his long-delayed “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour. “He does want to finish touring,” said David Furnish, Elton’s husband, while speaking EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife at the Mar. 28 part. “It is very important for him to spend more time with the family, but Elton will never stop.”
“I think they’re f*cking losers,” spy veteran Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) says with characteristic brutal honesty to Mi5 superior Diana Taverner (Kristen Scott Thomas) when asked if he really cares for his team of rejects, while they sit on a park bench at 2 am in the middle of a national crisis. “But they’re my losers,” he says with loyal punctuation.
EXCLUSIVE: Rich Sommer (The Dropout), Lauren Lindsay Donzis (Punky Brewster), Jayma Mays (United States of Al), Bentley Green (Snowfall), Angel Laketa Moore (Atypical) and Bailey Gavulic (Fear The Walking Dead) are set as series regulars in CBS comedy pilot Rust Belt News. Additionally, Jeff Blitz (American Auto) has been tapped to direct and executive produce the single-camera comedy pilot from The Simpsons writer and The Mindy Project exec producer Matt Warburton.
John Travolta is sharing his excitement after receiving his aeronautical credentials! The Hollywood star is now licensed to fly a 737 airplane and has shared the special moment with his fans and followers.The 68-year-old actor, who has been a licensed pilot since he was 22 years old, says that it is “a very proud moment” in his “aviation history” explaining that he “just received my 737 license.
EXCLUSIVE: AllBlk’s upcoming dark comedy Send Help, from co-creators Jean Elie and Mike Gauyo, has added Karina Bonnefil (Snowfall), Catfish Jean (To Leslie), Courtney Taylor (Insecure) and newcomer Ana Bowen to the cast.
John Travolta is celebrating a major accomplishment!
John Travolta is adding another pilot’s license to his list of accomplishments. The "Grease" actor, 68, shared with his Instagram followers on Sunday a video of himself in front of a Boeing 737 plane. "A very proud moment for me.
John Travolta is excited to share the news of his new license.
Selome Hailu Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger have been cast as the leads in “The Winchesters,” the CW pilot that acts as a prequel to the hit series “Supernatural.”Donnelly and Rodger will lead the series Mary Campbell and John Winchester, respectively, the parents of “Supernatural’s” protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester.Mary is 19 years old and has been fighting the forces of darkness since she was a child. After losing someone close to her, the hardened hunter considers quitting the family business — until her father’s disappearance and the arrival of newcomer John forces her to lead a new team.John has recently returned from Vietnam.
American Housewife alumna Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger (The In Between) are set as series regulars in CW’s The Winchesters drama pilot. The project hails from Supernatural trio Robbie Thompson, Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. Glen Winter (Supergirl) will direct and executive produce the pilot. They join previously announced cast members Nida Khurshi and Jojo Fleites.
Marin Independent Journal, which said that he died in his home in Marin County, California, on March 9.A filmmaker who straddled the line between independent films and mainstream narrative work, Korty started his career in animation in the early 1950s. While still in school in Antioch, Ohio, he experimented with new techniques for animation that he would use in television spots.
John Korty, who directed the Emmy-winning The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and the Oscar-winning documentary Who Are the DeBolts? and Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?, died March 9 at his home in Marin County, California. He was 85.
EXCLUSIVE: Alice Eve (Belgravia) has been tapped as the lead of CBS’ drama pilot Early Edition, a gender-swapped reboot of the late-1990s series headlined by Kyle Chandler.
READ MORE: ITV Loose Women: Nadia Sawalha returns to Instagram with 'honest' video of Cornwall holiday and fans love her for 'keeping it real' When her parents divorced, Jane never heard from her father again. She was raised by her mother and the two lived in Jane's godparents' council house. Speaking about her upbringing on Loose Women, the host described how her godparents' two sons were in the army and during summer holidays they would take her with them to squaddies training camps.
While Regé-Jean Page isn’t part of the upcoming second season of “Bridgerton”, he’s involved in another Netflix project that has a deep personal meaning for him.
Kat Foster and Felix Solis will star opposite Niecy Nash in the proposed spinoff from The Rookie. The duo will guest star in a two-episode arc in the current fourth season of The Rookie, which will serve as a backdoor pilot for the potential spinoff of the ABC series starring Nathan Fillion.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has downplayed reports touting him as the next Manchester United manager, insisting he ignores speculation over his future.