1374 Bio for ROY ALLEN WHITE After I graduated from Alhambra High School in Alhambra, CA, I went to Cal Tech for one year and then went into the army. After WWII, I continued my engineering education at Glendale College, CA. During a summer hiatus, a friend told me that Paramount Pictures had just gotten a commercial Television station license, KTLA, and was hiring. I was planning to go into electronic research and development but after talking to Klaus Landsberg, the new general manager (he has a star on Hollywood Blvd.), I decided it was an opportunity of a lifetime to get in on the ground floor of a new industry. We were the only commercial station west of the Mississippi river when I went to work for Paramount Television Productions Inc., KTLA Channel 5 in Sept. 1947. I stayed with KTLA for 38 years. I am on the Hollywood -Wall of Fame- as a television pioneer and was a member for about 35 years and membership chairman for 8 years of the prestigious Society of Television Engineers in California, members are by invitation only. About a month after being hired, I became Studio Engineering supervisor and later Engineering Operations Supervisor hiring video and sound Engineers, cameramen, buying equipment etc. KTLA put a link, with my help, from Yucca Flats Nevada (News Knob) to Hollywood then nation wide with the coverage of the first two atomic bomb blasts seen by the public. The Atomic Energy Commission issued us glasses so dark the sun looked like a red ball to view the bomb when it went off! I saw the two blasts at News Knob 7 miles away. I will never forget that experience. Gene Autry bought KTLA in the late 1950s. We were co-developer of the Telecopter. The first flying TV station. We were scooping all the news media with coverage of dams breaking, riots and chases on the freeway etc. from the air. The Telecopter name was later sold to NBC. I worked as Technical Director or Video Control on national TV shows in later years and won a Tech Award from the -Academy of Television Arts and Sciences- in 1982/83 for quality of color and lighting on a national Paramount Pictures show call Solid Gold. I retired in 1985. My wife and I built a 3300 sq.ft.home on the Grandview Golfcourse in 1992 and moved to Sun City West, AZ where we have lived ever since. We are very active in the community doing four newsletters and are on the Board of Directors of these clubs. The Photography Club, California Club, Ex-Press Club and the Engineers Club publishing not only the hard copy newsletters, but producing a web site with the newsletters and picture pages. The URL is: aznewsletters.s5.com. We are so busy, sometimes I think I should retire for the second time. Even though it is a lot of work which means we have very little free time, it does have its reward with friends, parties etc. I did a lot of traveling before coming to Sun City West, some 164 countries/areas and many cruises. It is a good thing because we just do not have time to travel much now. My wife Agnes and I meet in Monaco, one week into a one month cruise on the Royal Odyssey ship in 1983 and were married a short time later. She lived in Phoenix, AZ so she moved to Southern California with me and had the opportunity to see television and motion pictures productions and staging in action before I retired. Meeting Agnes was the best thing that ever happened to me. She is great. Biography Agnes White Agnes was born and raised outside of Vancouver in Canada. After graduating she went to work in the company store office in the small town. She met and married a student a couple of years later. Her parents used to come down to Phoenix every winter and raved about the wonderful weather they enjoyed in Arizona. They finally convinced them that they would love the sunny south and get out of the rain and snow. They packed up and came down to Phoenix with their two small children. She got rid of her rain boots, fur coat and other warm clothes, as she knew she would not need all those warm things in Arizona. They loved living in Phoenix and settled in to a very happy life. She had a long and satisfying career at Arizona Public Service. A couple of years before her husband planned to retire, he passed away after undergoing heart surgery a few years before. About a year later a school friend suggested they should go on a cruise together. While on board ship she noticed this person looking at her every time he happened to pass by her. Finally when they met in the elevator in Monaco, he asked her if she would like to join him for a drink later on the ship. By the time they arrived in St. Thomas he suggested that they shop for a ring at Cardows. Roy drove back and forth to Phoenix for almost a year before they were married and she moved into Roys house in California. While living in Southern California Agnes was fortunate to attend some of the Hollywood parties and see how the -rich and famous- lived. The gourmet food was all catered and the best. She was also able to go behind the scenes and was thrilled to talk to Humperdink about his new song that was about to be released. When Roy retired early over ten years ago, they decided to leave California and live in Sun City West, AZ to be close to the family. One year at a party, Dee and John Wells presented her with a trophy for having been the fastest sprinter on board ship when she -caught- Roy. She could never convince them that they had it all wrong. They have a busy life working on the computers and enjoying all of Roys -toys-. They and their dog, Mea, live an interesting and happy life with all their friends.
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