At the turn of the century, it was an Otis-Chandler syndicate that quietly purchased tens of thousands of acres of parched farmland in the San Fernando Valley, knowing that the fix was in to steal water rights from Owens Valley farmers 200 miles to the north. An investigative series -- unusual in itself -- broke national news about the Teamsters Pension Fund even before attorney general Robert Kennedy's racket-busters climbed on Jimmy Hoffa's back. "I spent 50 years at the Los Angeles Times, plus going down there as a little kid when my dad would take me to see my grandfather. The companys enormous financial success kept the rest of the Chandlers at bay. Amos was born and died in 1785 and is buried in Norfolk. Made with great respect for entrepreneurs in Missoula, Montana. The Otis Chandler era at the L.A. Times began on April 11, 1960, when his father introduced him as the new publisher. I grew up with ink in my blood. The Mandalorian's Season 3 premiere sets the stage for an adventurous third season of the hit Disney Plus Star Wars show. I had toyed with the idea of asking him to arm-wrestle, because I knew that an angry Canadian musk ox had torn his right shoulder from its socket and impaired his upper-arm mobility. The scion of the wealthy Chandler family who took over the Los Angeles Times and transformed it into a nationally respected publication. A considerable strength of this exceptionally resonant docu, made in association with Los Angeles PBS outlet KCET, is its broad appeal to a variety of viewers, from history buffs and journalism mavens to watchers of all things Los Angeles, and perhaps most of all to longtime SoCal residents who can recall when the Times mattered. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. In a supreme irony, once Otis Chandler took charge in 1960 and directed the paper to drop its jingoistic, frankly dreadful writing in favor of classically mainstream American journalism, the Times investigative series on the Birchers plus critical coverage of Nixons failed 1962 governor run started a familial rift that was never healed. Those jokes died out quickly once Chandler took over. Chinese Zodiac: Otis Chandler was born in the Year of the Rabbit. New Yorker wit S.J. His mother, Dorothy, rushed him to a hospital, only to have the attending physician tell her: "Lady, your son is dead." Ruthless and strait-laced, he assured the Chandlers family wealth for generations to come. In political contests, the Times declined to cover the Democratic candidate; it let the liberal newspapers handle that chore. Otis has an outsize personality, and it surely grated on some uncles and cousins when they saw Otis's face on the cover of the Atlantic Monthly, Otis hobnobbing with Jimmy Carter the day after the signing of the Camp David accords, and Otis generally taking the credit for turning around their newspaper. . Reporters loved him. But when he heard the news, he approved. Chandler made improvement of the paper's quality a top priority, succeeding in raising the product's reputation, as well as its profit margins. He just wants to make it the best damned newspaper in the world -- and he'll want that until his dying day. Willes was promising nothing less than a reinvention of the newspaper business. In 2000, Tribune Co. acquired L.A. Times parent Times Mirror Co., which by then also owned six other daily newspapers. Obviously, as a Buffum descendant, I'm not entirely objective in the matter. Yes, Otis Chandler is slowing down. One evening before dinner, his father handed him a seven-page memo, in effect Otis's marching orders for the next seven years. He is the prince who walks among his people and vows to reform his kingdom. He was born on November 23, 1927 and his birthplace is California. Was it his health, which had been acting up? When the time came to fold the family's money-losing afternoon tabloid, the Mirror, the Chandlers cut a sweet deal: in return for closing the Mirror, which competed with the Hearst Corp.'s afternoon paper, the Chandlers got Hearst to shutter the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, the Times's morning rival. It was Downing who blundered into the notorious Staples Center controversy that contributed mightily to her and Willes's downfall. Is this the destiny of the new media? Whos the richest Family Member in the world. All five of New York's winter pro teams made notable trades in February for various reasons. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. He spoke of doubling the Times's circulation to 2 million. In the early 1970s, Chandler became embroiled in an embarrassing stock scandal involving Jack Burke, '52, an old pal from Stanford. His descriptions become increasingly personal; you get the impression that hes getting back at colleagues and editors who once crossed him (for example, he describes former editor Shelby Coffey III as Nixonian without an explanation). She left seven children Mrs. Roger Goodan (Alice May), Mrs. Earle E. Crowe (Constance), Mrs. John J. Garland (Helen), Mrs. James G. Boswell (Ruth), Norman Chandler. I said, no, I feel fine. See change in peoples lives that use our product. Harvey was born in 1788; John in 1790. he would look at me, shake his head and say, "I don't know who you are talking about." During the same period that Buff was campaigning for the performing arts complex, her daughter Mia was leading the fundraising drive that created the L.A. County Museum of Art. "He is not," she snapped, and they drove to another hospital. Contact profile manager; View family tree; Problem with this page? As young adults during the McCarthy Era, many members of this generation felt it was dangerous to speak out. But they never met. Russian Tanks Have Crude Mine-Defenses. on the Internet. Norman Chandler died in 1973. At the same time, the General and his cohort secretly bought more than 44,000 acres in the San Fernando Valley. Chandler also spent time in the newsroom. Sure, I'm going through that right now," he explains during our meeting, about three weeks after the deal was announced. "This trust is dearer than life itself." This planet represents abundance, prosperity and the principle of expansion. she asked. When the New York Times started a West Coast edition on his watch, he beat it back. In a supreme irony, once Otis Chandler took charge in 1960 and directed the paper to drop its jingoistic, frankly dreadful writing in favor of classically mainstream American journalism, the Times . Otis Chandler built Goodreads in 2006 because he believed in social networking and wanted to see what his friends were reading. After years of cold-shoulder treatment from Willes, Chandler was flattered to be back in the loop. The effect is a book that seems at once too crowded and too short. As an Angelino I have an affinity to the Los Angeles Times. Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003. But that campaign is skimmed over in favor of a more general overview of the Chandler family as a bulwark of extreme right-wing politics, the sort that supported the anticommunist John Birch Society while also helping forge the career of Richard Nixon. Harry's son, Norman, and his activist wife, Dorothy, transformed Los Angeles into a cultural mecca, creating the Los Angeles Music Center and luring world-class talent to play there. It was Normans wife, Dorothy Buffum, who was the driving force in the family. By the time she married Norman Chandler, her father (Charlie Buffum) and her uncle (E.E. Even to those who worked closely with him, he was a vexing character. He is the prince who walks among his people and vows to reform his kingdom. Husband of Private and Private He needed Buffie to push him to be what he did, in fact, want to be. Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas. ChatGPT Swears It Can Optimize Your Inventory. Chandler works out at least every other day and competes in senior bicycle races. 2020 ideamensch. "Otis has really been out there attacking Mark and Kathryn in a mean-spirited way. He was sure, though, that none of his five children was capable of succeeding him, so he named Tom Johnson to succeed him as publisher, and for the first time in nearly a century somebody other than a Chandler was running the Los Angeles Times. His relatives complained about the Times's liberal bent -- and he has occasionally suggested that they in turn were knuckle-draggers, out of touch with modern times. . Chandler Otis. Alex Beam,a 1996-97 Knight fellow in journalism, is a columnist for the Boston Globe. And the legend did not disappoint. Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide. He raced in the 1980-1984 seasons, with 9 career starts, and started in the Indianapolis 500 in 1981-1983. There is no more powerful thing in the world than an idea, and long-form books are the best conveyors of ideas. "This has been the greatest week of his life," says his friend John Thomas, referring to Chandler's meetings with the Tribune brass. When I finally launched, a well-funded competitor launched the same week. The film is especially good at getting Chandler family members on the record about these and other subjects for the first time, including both of Otis wives and Tad Williamson, allied with the Chandlers right wing. Five years later, Otis unexpectedly stepped down as chairman, and for many the golden age was over. He was known for being a Family Member. Factual errors creep in (his chronology, for instance, of the 1999 Staples Center scandal is off). He had worked as an apprentice pressman and in the mail room, engraving department, mechanical and electrical shops and advertising. Otis Chandlers birth sign is Sagittarius and he had a ruling planet of Jupiter. Collection Title: Chandler Family History Collection Digitized by California Audiovisual Preservation Project. He had five children: Norman, Harry Brant Chandler, Cathleen, Michael and Carolyn. My guess is that all these reasons are true. I sat wondering what my friends would think of this expose of their very private, incredibly wealthy family. His mother insisted that he be sent East to boarding school to gain a proper education. All Rights Reserved. Otis read the note, threw it away, and hurriedly excused himself. Dorothy Buffum Chandler, a patron for the arts and a Regent for the University of California, was Michael's grandmother. 2023 Forbes Media LLC. Chandler Otis MS, LPC-Associate under the supervision of Lindsay Hollmuller MS, LPC-S, BCB, BCN is originally from Northern California where she attended Sonoma State University and graduated with her Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Development. Still, to me it seems ridiculous and pretentious for the Chandlers to have looked down on Dorothy. Burke was accused of using Chandler's influence to promote an oil company stock and paying him a finder's fee for moneys raised. His pulse started to fall. After divorcing his first wife (and then remarrying), did he also need to divorce himself from all the obligations his mother had instilled in him since he was a young boy? Otis enthusiastically supported Michael's racing career until a near-fatal crash while qualifying at Indianapolis in 1984. Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center Otis Chandler was born in California. With heroes and villains, mental illness and bigotry, the storytelling is compelling and though the tragic tales are told mostly in still pictures, I found myself glued to the television, riveted. He brought in outside consultants. By Otis own account, he had no plans to enter the family business when he was growing up. Explore historical records and family tree profiles about Chandler Otis on MyHeritage, the world's family history network. Hes a ham-fisted writer with a penchant for cliches and mixed metaphors. At 6-foot-2, he claims to have shrunk an inch, but he still towers over most visitors. While immersed in the story of a family whose drama rivals any Shakespearean tragedy, I found myself pointing and saying to my husband, "That's how Robbie got into car racing!" By the time Willes was through, the company was no longer ranked among the top 10. I read every night before going to bed. The greatest overall compatibility with Sagittarius is Gemini and Aries. Former L.A. Weekly writer and longtime Los Angeles watcher Ruben Martinez is one of the films several smart talking heads, tracing the Times history of openly racist commentaries and its editorial policies of ignoring minority groups. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Getting Started | Contributor Zone Contribute to This Page Edit page "Otis Chandler is angry and bitter," she said, "and he is doing a great disservice to this paper. When is Otis Chandlers birthday? Ex-husband of Private Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. There were Chandlers in my life, quite a few of them, apparently they were from different branches of the extraordinary family. But in fact, he keeps in close touch with his contacts at the paper and lives and breathes the daily vicissitudes of the Los Angeles Times. He took the stock public. Not given to self-reflection or intellectual fancy, he was a man of action. I'd never known of Dorothy "Buff" Chandler's difficulty being accepted into the family, though I did know that she'd been successful in uniting Downtown and Westside [read Protestant and Jewish] philanthropists in building the Music Center downtown. In his words, she was a power hungry matron-in-the-making who tried to control everyone around her. Fernando Valley apprentice pressman and in the loop the next seven years the Los Angeles and... A proper education were from different branches of the 1999 Staples Center controversy contributed. 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