Charles Fernley Fawcett

1. Greenville High School Wall of Fame Charles Fernley Fawcett Kaylyn, Colin, and Connor

2. Charles Fernley Fawcett • A man of many talents, stories, and awards, Charles Fernley Fawcett was a Greenville High alumni who went on to great heights, playing the role of • an actor, • a wrestler, • and a war hero.

3. The Birth of Fawcett • Charles Fernley Fawcett was born on December 2, 1915 in Waleska, Georgia. • By the time Charles was six, both of his parents had died, and he moved to Greenville, SC with his siblings to live with his two aunts. • He attended Greenville High and succeeded.

4. Fawcett at Greenville High • Graduating in 1935, Fawcett was an active student at Greenville High School in many different fields, from being on the football team, to being in the Nautilus play. • His activities included: Football- 4 years Band- 1 year President- Boy’s Physical Training Club President- Forensic Club President- Homeroom President- Drama Club V.P.- Block-letter Club Cafeteria Squad

5. The Beginning of Adventure • At the age of 15, Fawcett began an affair with his best friend’s mother. Fawcett said on the matter, "If that's child molestation, I would wish this curse on every young boy.” The affair worsened Fawcett’s mental health, and he began contemplating suicide. Feeling he needed a change of scenery, Fawcett left Greenville, SC. • Fawcett began his life of adventure by taking steamships, carrying him to the East. • Fawcett would return to the U.S. to practice his trumpet playing which brought him a meeting and lesson with the famous Louis Armstrong. He also wrestled in New York and Washington D.C.

6. Fawcett was involved in multiple wars and conflicts during his lifetime. Fawcett’s war involvement would begin when he joined the ambulance corps, which would lead him to meet Varian Fry, a man who would involve him in rescuing Jews and anti-Nazis from France. Fawcett once assisted in impersonating a German ambulance crew and freeing French prisoners of war. They went into a hospital where allied prisoners of war were being held captive by the Germans. He ordered the nurses to usher the prisoners out of the hospital. He told them “Gentlemen, consider yourself liberated.” A Brit said “You’re a Yank.” Fawcett declared “Never confuse a Virginian with a Yankee.” Fawcett in World War II and beyond • Fawcett was so involved in the rescue effort, he even married a total of six Jewish women. This resulted in their release from concentration camps in German-controlled France. • After this, Fawcett would join the RAF in Britain and then serve in the French Foreign Legion.

7. Fawcett in Film • Finished with fighting in war, Fawcett began to act in and produce films. Films he starred in: • Grand Rendevous • It Happened in Athens (1962) - Ambassador Cyrus T. Gaylord • The 300 Spartans (1962) - Megistias • Old Shatterhand (1964) - General Taylor

8. “Charlie Fawcett’s” War • In June 1979, when the Soviets invaded Aghanistan, Fawcett followed them. • He created a documentary on the fighting between the Mujahideen and the Soviets called Courage is Their Weapon. • This documentary is pro-Mujahideen • In the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, Fawcett’s friend, Joanne Herring, who is played by Julia Roberts, invites Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks, to watch Fawcett’s documentary on the fighting in Afghanistan. • Fawcett enticed Wilson who, according to the novel on which the movie is based, said, “How could I say no to a guy like that?” • In this way, Fawcett assisted in establishing America’s involvement in the middle east.

9. Fawcett’s Death • Charles Fawcett died on February 3, 2008 in London. • He was 92 years old. • Fawcett died of old age. • His ashes were sprinkled in the Seine river in France. • He is survived by his second wife, April Ducksbury, and his daughter, whose mother, Fawcett’s first wife, has been dead since 1956.

10. Charlie by Andy Marino, a friend of Fawcett • “He never bragged or preened about the good deeds he had done, and he never expected thanks or adulation. All he wanted was to see right prevail, whether it was helping Jews escape from concentration camps, Hungarians flee from Russian tanks, or Afghans to evict the Soviet invader from their country.” • “Though he could blow a trumpet just fine, he never blew his own trumpet.” • “As all truly great men do, he let that task fall to those who loved and admired him, never expecting anything and so receiving more than he expected. Charlie was always touched and grateful when he received the praise he so richly deserved.” • “Charlie’s destiny was to be more alive than other people, to accomplish more daring feats and good deeds than the most fervent fantasist would dare imagine.” • “Charlie always did what he knew was right, in the large things and the small.”

11. Charlie continued… • “Even in his final years he was as he had always been: kind, courteous, good-natured, very slow to anger, considerate and thoughtful of others, never complaining. He had no self-pity.” • “Wherever he went, people looked up to him and loved him, for they recognised that he was larger than life, and that in his presence their own lives were touched by the numinous influence of a great spirit.”

12. Works Cited • Greenville High School Wall of Fame plaque on Charles Fernley Fawcett • Marino, Andy. ""Charlie" by Andy Marino". Memorial Service. 5/15/2009 <http://www.varianfry.org/fawcett_marino_en.htm>. • "Charles Fernley Fawcett." Varian Fry Institute. 23 Feb. 2008. Varian Fry Institute. 15 May 2009 <http://www.varianfry.org/index.html>. • "Charles Fawcett." Telegraph. 09 Feb 2008. Telegraph.co.uk. 17 May 2009 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1578075/Charles-Fawcett.html>. • Yearbook pictures are credited to the 1936 Greenville High yearbook.