Maria Helen Alvarez

Maria Helen Alvarez (July 4, 1921 – January 2009) was the first female CEO in television and the original financial backer of the Disneyland Hotel in California. She was a millionaire by the age of 29 as a result of her hard work and ambition. She also became a pioneer in the TV industry.

Alvarez was born Maria Helen Harman on July 4, 1921, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her parents were Orlin and Edna Mae Harman.

Alvarez was married three times. Her first husband was Joseph Alvarez whom she married in the 1940s. Her second husband was John Hill with whom she built the Tulsa Station in the 1960s. Finally, in the 1970s, she married C. Arnholt Smith. Her third union was perceived by many as controversial, since Smith had been convicted of grand theft and tax evasion in connection with the collapse of his U.S. National Bank. Alvarez had one child named Joseph Thomas Alvarez III.

Alvarez spent most of her life in La Jolla, a community in the city of San Diego, California. Later, in her senior years, she moved to Rancho Santa Fe. She died of natural causes at the age of 88 in her home in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Maria Helen Alvarez Smith began her career in broadcasting by doing odd jobs and secretarial tasks at a Tulsa, radio station in the 1940s. One day, the regular newscaster was absent from her slot, so she volunteered to report the news. Before long, her superiors recognized her potential and she was regularly reading stories for the station, many of which focused on the emerging television industry.

While at the Tulsa radio station, Alvarez gained technical experience for what was to become her career in TV. She read everything she could find about TV, visiting 42 of the 89 TV stations that were on air throughout America. In her spare time, she took correspondence courses in electronic engineering and received the Federal Communications Commission license needed to build a television station.

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