Chapter #3
The Few, The Proud, the Futuristic!
Between
April, 1956, when C. Spotrunn got the funding to begin the design
and construction of The World of the Future Exposition,
and opening day, January 1, 1959, literally thousands of people
were involved with the project. But, like so much else associated
with the Exposition, the identity of most have been lost to history.
It is known that C. Spotrunn had a tight cadre of people around
during planning and construction. The following brief biographical
sketches have been developed through composite information from
a variety of sources.
Gloria Spotrunn -
(nee Schwartz, nee Golly, nee Vavoom) Producer. Gloria was
the entertainment coordinator and produced all of the live entertainment
in and around The World of the Future Exposition. Ex-model,
ex-Hollywood actress, ex-stripper, C. met Gloria when she was
hired to pose for several pieces of cover art for Titian and
Sons Publishing. They were wed in November of 1943. A physically
impressive woman (she stood 6'2" tall), Gloria had earned,
at age 21, a Bachelors Degree in European Literature from UCLA
in 1940. A modest, private woman, she remains as of this writing,
active as the owner and CEO of Spotrunn Enterprises, Ltd. and
general manager of Spotrunn's Village, which she and C. opened
in the spring of 1962 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. She is still
an ardent supporter of the arts in Florida.
Yvette Aller -
Architect. Formerly a protege of Armet & Davis, the Southern
California architects known as the Kings of Googie (the wild,
futuristic, expressive post-war style seen primarily in the construction
of coffee shops). Yvette's "Googie roots" may be seen
in many of the buildings she designed for The World of the Future
Exposition as well as Tomorrow Town and Future Ville. While some
of the buildings and pavilions were designed by outside firms,
at least half of the designs are the direct work of Yvette, with
Tomorrow Town and Future Ville being her work in their entirety.
Scott Kohl -
Writer. A native of Hollywood, Scott had been a hack writer
around town for many years when he met C. at Reliable Pictures.
Scott assisted C. in the scripting of Space Ranger Girls and
appears in several episodes (in fright wig and old-age make up)
as Emperor Fang, a rôle he then reprised in the 1977 remake.
Scott is credited with writing the promotional materials as well
as the scripts for the movies presented The World of the Future
Exposition. He also wrote the scripts for the short promotional
films provided to schools, community groups and movie theatres
around the country. With the occasional assistance from Gloria
Spotrunn, Scott wrote all of the many live shows.
Dan & Dale Portsmith -
General contractors. An enigmatic pair of Welsh-born contractors,
they had been recommended to C. by billionaire/industrialist-inventor
Howard Hughes, for whom the pair had worked on a number of "special
projects." Pale to the point of being nearly albino, both
men nevertheless seemed to thrive in the intense desert sun,
eventually moving their operation to Amboy, near the site of
the Exposition. Later, they became the general contractors for
the military when they built their facilities for Area 101. Nothing
is known about either Dan or Dale after this.
One
final design note. It has long been hinted that many of the "non-Aller"
designed buildings were the work of Walt Disney's own "Imagineers,"
employees of his privately owned design group called WED Enterprises.
If true, Walt must have kept this involvement quiet to fend off
other requests for his over-worked designer's time and possibly
to avoid of frictions between Walt and the Disney Studio board
of directors.
Through his work with the Army Air Corps C. first meet and
befriended long time Disney animator Ward Kimball, with whom
he remained a friend until C.'s death in 1993. Through this friendship,
C. found himself meeting informally with Walt Disney on several
occasions in the late 1940's and throughout the 1950's, very
often at The Tam O'Shanter Inn, a drive-in restaurant in Glendale,
California. These "after hour" burger and brew-fests
(as C. called them) no doubt led to the shared interest both
would show in later years (Walt's Tomorrowland in Disneyland
and EPCOT in Walt Disney World and C.'s own The World of the
Future Exposition).
- © 2000 Kevin W. Whitaker
- The Recovered Entertainment Archives
The Recovered Entertainment Archives