John Barry

September, 1966

Probably the most colorful entrepreneur in broadcasting today is a 45-year-old larger-than-life Texan named Gordon Barton McLendon, who turned near bankruptcy into an empire that now includes radio stations, oil wells, drive-ins, night clubs and a 200-acre movie production lot on Lake Dallas that turns out the only feature-length films being made between New York and Los Angeles. Son of the owner of a stable of Texas movie theaters, McLendon served in Naval Intelligence during World War Two, mar...