- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJames Henry Cole Palen Jr.
- Cole Palen was born on December 29, 1925 in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. He is known for Zelig (1983) and Destined to Fly (2016). He was married to Rita Weidner. He died on December 8, 1993 in Florida, USA.
- SpouseRita Weidner(March 17, 1967 - December 8, 1993) (his death)
- Cole Palen was the founder and owner of the world famous Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in upstate New York, which boasts one of the largest and most accurate collections of flying vintage aircraft in the world.
- Cole built all of the Bleriot Penguin training aircraft that appeared in the 1958 movie "Lafayette Escadrille".
- He served in the United States Army during World War II, and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.
- In April of 1965, he flew his newly restored 1912 Thomas Pusher from the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome to New York City (a distance of about 100 miles), and after three days of stop and go flying, he and his aircraft appeared on the television game show "I've Got a Secret" where panelists tried to figure out his secret, which was: "I flew here in a 1912 airplane".
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