Franklin "Pete" Adreon was an American film

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and television director

Television director

A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

, producer, screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, and actor.

Early life and career

Born in Gambrills, Maryland

Gambrills, Maryland

Gambrills is an unincorporated town in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in the Baltimore metro area.The community was named for Augustine Gambrill, plantation owner.-Population:...

, Adreon was a Marine Reservist during the 30s, and served in the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Serving initially with the 6th Marines in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Major Adreon was put in charge of the Marine Corps Photographic Unit in Quantico

Quantico

Quantico may refer to:* Quantico , a 2005 science fiction/thriller novel by Greg Bear* Quantico, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States...

.

Adreon, an ex-bond salesman that entered motion pictures in 1935 with no experience, landed some small paying jobs, including a technical advisor

Technical advisor

A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...

 on the serial The Fighting Marines

The Fighting Marines

The Fighting Marines is a Mascot movie serial. This was the last serial ever produced by Mascot. The studio was bought out and merged with others to become Republic Pictures...

(in which he also appeared in the role of Captain Holmes). This led to a writing position at Mascot Pictures and its successor Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....

. Adreon stayed with the serial unit and soon, through hard work and toil, was awarded the title of associate producer. Adreon stayed with the studio for nearly its all of its short life. He worked with serial director William Witney

William Witney

William Nuelsen Witney was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.He directed many Westerns during his career,...

 at Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....

, who was also in the Marines in the war.

He then worked as a director, producer and writer on various television series and films.

Adreon died on September 10, 1979 in Ventura County, California

Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...

 at the age of 76.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Notes
1937	S.O.S. Coast Guard S.O.S. Coast Guard S O S Coast Guard is a Republic film serial. It was the seventh of the sixty-six serials made by Republic. The plot concerns the mad scientist Boroff attempting to sell a superweapon to the highest bidder, opposed by Coast Guard Lieutenant Terry Kent , for both personal and professional...	Original screenplay
1938	The Fighting Devil Dogs The Fighting Devil Dogs The Fighting Devil Dogs is a 12-chapter Republic movie serial starring Lee Powell and Herman Brix, the latter better known by his later stage name, Bruce Bennett. It was directed by William Witney and John English...	Original screenplay
1939	Zorro's Fighting Legion Zorro's Fighting Legion Zorro's Fighting Legion is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters. It features Reed Hadley as Zorro. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against the evil Don Del Oro....	Original screenplay
1940	Adventures of Red Ryder Adventures of Red Ryder The Adventures of Red Ryder is a 12-chapter Republic movie serial starring Don "Red" Barry and Noah Beery, Sr. based on the Western comic strip Red Ryder. It was directed by William Witney and John English. This serial was the 18th of the 66 serials produced by Republic...	Original screenplay Credited as Franklyn Adreon
1947	Jesse James Rides Again Jesse James Rides Again Jesse James Rides Again is a Republic film serial.-Cast:* Clayton Moore as Jesse James* Linda Stirling as Ann Bolton. It was during filming of this serial that Linda Stirling met her future husband Sloane Nibley.* Roy Barcroft as Frank Lawton...	Original screenplay
1948	Adventures of Frank and Jesse James Adventures of Frank and Jesse James Adventures of Frank and Jesse James is a 1948 Republic film serial.-Cast:* Clayton Moore as Jesse James AKA John Howard* Steve Darrell as Frank James AKA Bob Carroll* Noel Neill as Judy Powell* George J...	Associate producer
1949	Ghost of Zorro Ghost of Zorro Ghost of Zorro is a Republic Movie serial. It uses substantial stock footage from earlier serials, including Son of Zorro and Daredevils of the West. This movie was shot in Chatsworth, Los Angeles.-Cast:...	Associate producer
1950	The Invisible Monster The Invisible Monster The Invisible Monster is a Republic film serial.-Plot:A would-be American dictator and mad-scientist, known only as The Phantom Ruler, has developed a formula which, when sprayed on some solid object, renders that object and everything it contains invisible when exposed to rays emitted by a...	Associate producer
1951	Government Agents vs Phantom Legion Government Agents vs Phantom Legion Government Agents vs Phantom Legion is a 12-chapter American black-and-white film serial produced and distributed by Republic Pictures Corporation in 1951. It is an original, studio-commissioned screenplay by Ronald Davidson, produced by Franklin Adreon and directed by Fred C...	Associate producer
1952	Zombies of the Stratosphere Zombies of the Stratosphere Zombies of the Stratosphere was intended as the second serial featuring "new hero" Commando Cody and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying suit introduced in King of the Rocket Men...	Associate producer
1953	Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders	Director, associate producer
1954	Trader Tom of the China Seas Trader Tom of the China Seas Trader Tom of the China Seas is a Republic film serial. In 1966 the serial was edited into a 100-minute television film with the new title Target: Sea of China.-Cast:* Harry Lauter as Tom Rogers* Aline Towne as Vivian Wells...	Director, associate producer
1955	King of the Carnival King of the Carnival King of the Carnival is a Republic movie serial. It contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial Daredevils of the Red Circle. This was the last serial ever made by Republic and is often considered to be one of the worst produced by that company...	Director, associate producer
1962	The Nun and the Sergeant The Nun and the Sergeant The Nun and the Sergeant is a 1962 Korean War war film starring Anna Sten and Robert Webber in the title roles. It was produced by Sten's husband Eugene Frenke who had produced Heaven Knows, Mr Allison that was also a pairing of a Catholic nun and a U.S. Marine...	Director
1966	Cyborg 2087 Cyborg 2087 Cyborg 2087 is a 1966 science fiction film starring Michael Rennie, Karen Steele, Wendell Corey and Warren Stevens.-Plot:Garth , a cyborg from the future, travels back in time to 1966 to prevent Professor Sigmund Marx from revealing his new discovery, an idea that will make mind control possible...	Director Alternative title: Man from Tomorrow
Television
Year	Title	Notes
1955	Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe is a science fiction television series or serial. It consists of twelve 25-minute episodes. The series was filmed and intended to be broadcast as a television limited series but, due to contract restrictions, it was originally released in theaters as a...	Associate producer, 12 episodes
1957	Cheyenne	Director, 2 episodes
1957–1958	Maverick Maverick (TV series) Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...	Director, 2 episodes
	Colt .45 Colt .45 (TV series) Colt .45 is an American Western television series shown on ABC between 1957 and 1960. The half-hour show derives from the 1950 Warner Brothers film of the same name starring Randolph Scott and formed part of the William T...	Director, 4 episodes
	Sugarfoot Sugarfoot Sugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...	Director, 10 episodes
1958	Frontier Doctor Frontier Doctor For the NBC program similarly named, see Frontier .Frontier Doctor is an American Western television series starring Rex Allen that aired in syndication from September 26, 1958, until June 20, 1959.-Synopsis:...	Director, 2 episodes
1958–1959	26 Men 26 Men 26 Men is a syndicated American western television series about the Arizona Rangers, an elite group commissioned in 1901 by the legislature of the Arizona Territory and limited, for financial reasons, to twenty-six active members. Russell Hayden was the producer of the series and the co-composer of...	Director, 2 episodes
	Lassie Lassie (1954 TV series) Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...	Director, 14 episodes
	The Rough Riders The Rough Riders (TV series) The Rough Riders is an American Western television series set in the West after the American Civil War. It aired on ABC for the 1958-1959 television season...	Director, 5 episodes
1959–1960	Tombstone Territory Tombstone Territory Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...	Director, 5 episodes
1960	Pony Express Pony Express (TV series) Pony Express is a half-hour syndicated western television series which ended its 39-episode schedule in 1960, the centennial of the launching of the Pony Express, a short-lived venture promoted by William Hepburn Russell of the freight company Russell, Majors and Waddell...	Director, 1 episode
	Men Into Space Men Into Space Men Into Space is an American sci-fi television series broadcast from September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960 by CBS which depicted future efforts by the United States Air Force to explore and develop outer space. The black-and-white filmed show starred William Lundigan as Col...	Director, 1 episode
	Lock-Up Lock-Up (TV series) Lock-Up is an American legal drama series that premiered in syndication in September 1959 and concluded in June 1961. The half-hour episodes had little time for character development or subplots and presented a compact story without embellishment....	Director, 3 episodes
	Shotgun Slade Shotgun Slade Shotgun Slade is an American western television series starring Scott Brady that aired in syndication from October 24, 1959, until 1961. Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, and Martin Berkeley...	Director, 2 episodes
	Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....	Director, 1 episode
1960–1961	Bat Masterson Bat Masterson (TV series) Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...	Director, 5 episodes
1961	Ripcord Ripcord (TV series) Ripcord is an American syndicated television series that ran for 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963 about the exploits of a skydiving operation by the same name.-Overview:...	Director, 1 episode
	The Tall Man The Tall Man (TV series) The Tall Man is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1960 to 1962. The series was produced by Revue Productions.-Synopsis:...	Director, 1 episode

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