Jack Wrather

John Devereaux Wrather Jr. (May 24, 1918 – November 12, 1984), was an entrepreneur and petroleum businessman who became a television producer and later diversified by investing in broadcast stations and resort properties. He is best known for producing The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and Lassie television series in the 1950s as well as marrying actress Bonita Granville. Wrather was born in Amarillo, Texas on (1918-05-24)May 24, 1918 to Mazie (Cogdell) and John Devereaux Wrather. They moved to Tyler, where he grew up and graduated from the local high school in 1935. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1939. He worked in the oilfields of East Texas as a wildcatter and pipeline walker as his college summer job. When his father became ill in the early 1940s, he took over as president of his father's oil company, Overton Refining Company.