Who was Irving Hartley
Irving Hartley was born in 1902 in Carmel, New York. He was an actor in his young life but became a film producer and photographer.
He was part of Hollywood when Hollywood was based in New York. Later joined National Geographic and traveled all over the world documenting for them. Later, together with his wife, Elda Hartley, opened and managed Hartley Productions which produced travelogues and commercials in the 1940s to 1960s.
In the 1960s, both Irving and Elda Hartley started to produce world religion documentaries which they marketed to Colleges and Universities. Finally, the Hartley Film Foundation was created in the 1980s to continue the work in producing documentaries in world religions and spirituality.
Irving Hartley died peacefully in 1986 in Greenwich, CT. He was survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.