William L. Hendricks(1904-1992)

William L. (Bill) Hendricks was a Director of Public Relations at Warner Bros and a retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel who, in 1947, co-founded the well-known Toys For Tots gift program sponsored by the Marines. He was also a producer of short films at Warner Bros, as well as head of the studio's cartoon division between 1964 and 1969. In 1961 the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences gave him an honorary Oscar for producing the Marine Corps documentary "A Force in Readiness." In 1969, for his work on behalf of Toys for Tots he was awarded the United States military's Legion of Merit. Much liked and well respected, Hendricks was described as a quiet man who got things done. His wife Diane, who suggested starting the toy charity, died in 1988, and while the Hendricks had no children of their own, Bill told an interviewer in 1982 that he felt the grateful recipients of all those toys had become "our children."