Background

James E. Wise Jr. was born on December 11, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to James E. Wise, a livestock commission man and member of the Chicago Livestock Exchange, and Dorothy Campbell Wise, a homemaker.

Education

In 1953, Wise received a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University.

Career

After graduating from Northwestern University, Wise became a naval aviator in 1953 and served as an intelligence officer, going on to command various naval intelligence units until he retired in 1975. He later held several senior executive posts in private-sector companies, including executive officer positions. He also held the position of an executive director at Seaskate, Inc. Then, in 1993, he began publishing books about the recent history of the military. Since then his body of work has grown to include several works of nonfiction as well as providing assistance to actor James Arness on his autobiography.

Wise's first book, Sole Survivors of the Sea, is a collection of true stories about twenty-one sailors who were each the only survivors of twenty-one different shipwrecks. His second book, Shooting the War: Memoirs of a World War II U-Boat Officer, was published in the same year as Sole Survivors of the Sea. Shooting the War is co-authored by Otto Geise, the U-Boat officer mentioned in the title. Wise was also a co-author of Sailors' Journey into War with Robert A. Maher.

Wise also wrote the books Stars in Blue, Stars in the Corps, Stars in Khaki and International Stars at War, featuring some of the best-known TV and movie personalities - several of them unlikely veterans of military service - from around the world. Jim also wrote a number of other books that weren't nearly as star-studded, but they were nonetheless well-crafted and relevant to what the Naval Institute does.

Achievements

• James E. Wise Jr. is best known as Captain of the United States Navy. He served as ship's Intelligence Officer onboard the aircraft carrier USS America (CVA-66) during the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors and later in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. He subsequently commanded various naval intelligence units. After retirement from the Navy, Captain Wise held several senior executive posts in private sector companies. Known for his strong ties to actors in Hollywood, Mr. Wise has written and co-authored more than a dozen books, many of them featuring stories of movie actors who served in the armed forces. They include the Naval Institute Press titles Stars in Blue, Stars in the Corps, and International Stars at War. His best-known books are his three volumes of tales about the Hollywood stars who served in the twentieth-century military.
  
  Wise earned the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and the Philippine Medal of Merit. In 1996, he also was named a Distinguished Author of the Year by the United States Naval Institute.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Stars in Blue

    (The lives of movie stars are often more closely followed ...)

    1997
  • James Arness: An Autobiography

    (James Arness gives the full story on his early years, his...)

    2001
  • International Stars at War

    (The last in a popular series on movie stars in the milita...)

    2002
  • Sailors' Journey into War

    (Sailors' Journey into War is the story of young men taken...)

    1998
  • Sole Survivors of the Sea

    (The incredible stories of twenty-two lone survivors of ma...)

    1994
  • At the Helm of Uss America

    (Only the best officers are given command of the United St...)

    2014
  • Shooting the War: The Memoir and Photographs of a U-Boat Officer in World War II

    (The war diary of former German naval officer Otto Giese r...)

    1994
  • Stars in the Corps 1999

Views

Wise's writing is often characterized as plain and straightforward, even when recounting the extraordinary tales of the battle that appear in some of his works.

Personality

Wise told stories about being an honorary Hollywood western insider because he was a great friend and biographer of TV's Marshal Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, the famed James Arness, who also happened to be a wounded veteran of World War II. Because of that relationship, Jim regularly attended dinners of an association of actors who appeared in movie and TV westerns, where he became friends with Burt Reynolds, Dale Robertson, and Dennis Weaver, among many others.

Interests

• reading, writing, fishing, flying

Connections

On September 19, 1957, Wise married Carlotta Hallinan, a homemaker. Their marriage produced four children: James E. III. Allison P., Julie Ann Wise Day, Jackie Wise Graham and Matthew.

Father:

James E. Wise

Mother:

Dorothy Campbell Wise

late wife:

Carlotta Hallinan

Son:

James E. III. Allison P. Wise

Daughter:

Julie Ann Wise Day

Daughter:

Jackie Wise Graham

Son:

Matthew Wise

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series (Volume 198) brings researchers the most recent data on the world's most popular authors.
  2010