OLDFIELD, A(rthur) Barney 1909-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born December 18, 1909, in Tecumseh, NE; died of diabetes-generated cirrhosis of the liver April 25, 2003, in Los Angeles, CA. Military officer, journalist, press agent, and author. Oldfield was a former army officer who later became a press agent for movie stars and politicians, including Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Janis Paige, and Elizabeth Taylor. Beginning his army career in 1932, he completed his A.B. at the University of Nebraska in 1933 and worked as a reporter for the army. Continuing his military service, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was a press aide to General Dwight Eisenhower. Seeing action in Europe during World War II, he received the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star with five battle stars. After the war Oldfield became a public-relations officer with the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 1962 as a full colonel. As a civilian, he found work as corporate director of international relations for Litton Industries in Beverly Hills, California. It was at Litton that he became involved in Hollywood, working as a publicist for Warner Brothers and hosting the Lincoln, Nebraska, radio show Here's Hollywood. He retired in 1989. Oldfield also found time to write several books, most of which drew on his military experiences, including Never a Shot in Anger (1956), Those Wonderful Men in the Cactus Starfighter Squadron (1976), and the novel Operation Narcissus (1978).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2003, p. B9.

Washington Post, April 28, 2003, p. B4.