William Dudley Pelley
| William Dudley Pelley | |
|---|---|
The wanted poster issued for Pelley in 1939
|
|
| Born |
March 12, 1890 Lynn, Massachusetts |
| Died | June 30, 1965 (aged 75) Noblesville, Indiana |
| Occupation |
|
William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890 – June 30, 1965) was an American writer and spiritualist who founded the fascist Silver Legion of America in 1933 and ran for President in 1936 for the Christian Party. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition in 1942, and released in 1950. Upon his death, The New York Times assessed him as "an agitator without a significant following".
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, William Dudley Pelley grew up in poverty, the son of William George Apsey Pelley and his wife, Grace (née Goodale). His father was initially a Southern Methodist Church minister, later a small businessman and shoemaker.
Largely self-educated, Pelley became a journalist and gained respect for his writing skills; his articles eventually appeared in national publications. Two of his short stories received O. Henry awards: "The Face in the Window" in 1920, and "The Continental Angle" in 1930. He was hired by the Methodist Centenary to study Methodist missions around the world. He joined the Red Cross in Siberia, where he helped the White Russians during the Russian Civil War. His opposition to Communism grew, and he began to subscribe to the theory of Jewish Communism. Upon returning to the United States in 1920, Pelley wrote novels and short stories in addition to his journalism, and went to Hollywood, where he became a screenwriter, writing the Lon Chaney films The Light in the Dark (1922) and The Shock (1923). Pelley became disillusioned with the film industry, specifically with his treatment by Jewish studio executives. He moved to New York, and then to Asheville, North Carolina in 1932, and began publishing magazines and essays detailing his new religious system, the "Liberation Doctrine".
...
Wikipedia