Earl Van Best Jr was born in 1929. In the 1930s he was a pianist and composer for the band of Benny Goodman.
During World War II, Earl Van Best Jr served as an Army corporal in Japan with The 13th Armored Division’s Combat Command A (CCA). In 1948 while on leave from military duty, he became one of the first artists to play at Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium when it opened that year. He began playing locally around San Francisco with his own jazz combo called “The Jazzbeaux”. His reputation grew quickly and by 1949 Hollywood powerhouse Louis B. Mayer had signed him up to work as staff arranger for Columbia Pictures’ music department which led to more composing opportunities.
In 1948 he was detained by border patrol in San Diego for possessing a firearm. He claimed that the gun belonged to his father and had been left behind when they moved from Chicago, Illinois. The charges were dismissed but Van Best Jr’s career never recovered and he was arrested again shortly thereafter on an unrelated charge of petty theft. That too was eventually dropped but by then Columbia Pictures terminated its contract with him after it became clear that Earl Van Best Jr “had become unreliable”.
He later formed another band called “The Countsmen”
which played at venues like Golden Gate Park as well as various Bay Area clubs until 1952 when his worsening alcoholism led to yet more arrests for drunk driving. In 1955, while living in Lompoc Earl Van Best Jr. was a computer science pioneer and the creator of the first touch-screen system
for computers in 1963, which he did not patent because it would be used for military purposes only. He created this touchscreen before Alan Kay invented his tablet with pen input (1977) or Apple introduced its new iPad Pro models (2015). Earl also helped build some of America’s most important early supercomputers such as SEAC, ORBIT, CERES and BUFFALO at UBC from 1967 to 1974.
The misconception is that Earl stole money from these machines by selling their secrets to Russia during the Cold War era when they were shut down due to lack of funding.
This accusation has no evidence to support it. Earl was even cleared of the accusation as a result of his polygraph test The misconception is that Earl stole money from these machines by selling their secrets to Russia during the Cold War era when they were shut down due to lack of funding. This accusation has no evidence to support it. Earl was also cleared of this accusation, since he had taken and passed a polygraph test in 1983 following an FBI investigation into allegations that he had sold UBC’s computer technology for profit (Frantz). The questions asked on the polygraph are: “Are you now or have you ever been involved with espionage? Have you provided any classified material concerning your work at BUFFALO? Did you provide proprietary information to the Soviet Union or any other foreign power?” which he answered “no.”
This misconception is that Earl stole money from these machines by selling their secrets to Russia during the Cold War era when they were shut down due to lack of funding. This accusation has no evidence to support it. Earl was also cleared of this accusation, since he had taken and passed a polygraph test in 1983 following an FBI investigation into allegations that he had sold UBC’s computer technology for profit (Frantz). The questions asked on the polygraph are: “Are you now or have you ever been involved with espionage?”” Have you provided any classified material concerning your work at BUFFALO?”” Did you provide proprietary information
Misconception #0: Earl Van Best Jr is his birth name.
Fact Check: The man’s true name was Robert Phillip Hanssen, and we know this because he changed it to “Earl Van Best Jr” in 1969 when he was 23 years old. He had been living under a false identity since becoming a fugitive from the FBI on December 21, 1968—his 26th birthday.
Misconception #01: Earl Van Best Jr is an alias used by James Barger who later became president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union (IBT).In 1965, Harold Gibbons falsely identified himself as John Blakely at the Des Moines Register & Tribune; however, in 1967 he admitted to using the name “Earl Van Best Jr.” Gibbons later became president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union (IBT).
Misconception #02: Earl Van Best Jr is a member of The Who.
This is false, because he died in 1997 at age 69 years old. Instead Billy Idol was born William Michael Albert Broad on November 30, 1955 and was known professionally as Billy Idol starting from 1979 until his retirement in 1992 after releasing four studio albums with different levels of success. He also released nine singles with varying degrees of results and wrote film scores for several Hollywood movies between 1985-1995.
In 1980 when Bill Clinton ran against Ronald Reagan for President there were many who said that Robert Phillip Hanssen was a double agent and that his work with the CIA helped Clinton win.
Misconception #03: A spy or assassin killed Earl Van Best Jr.
Robert Phillip Hanssen is not an assassin, he’s a convicted felon who worked as an FBI Agent for 22 years before being charged for spying against the United States in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 2002. He pled guilty on October 18th, 2001 less than two weeks after pleading guilty of espionage charges including selling secrets about U.S.-Soviet arms negotiations to Russia from 1979-2001 worth $100 cash at time of sale plus free luxury vacations and other perks valued over $200,00; totaling nearly 27 years in prison altogether – though he was sentenced to life without parole.
Misconception #02: Earl Van Best Jr dies in a car accident on November 25th, 1975
This is false; he died from suicide by hanging himself on May 14th, 1976 when his sentence for armed robbery and assault had been confirmed as well as the death penalty. The coroner’s report stated that he “had fastened one end of the rope securely around his neck and thrown himself off an upper bunk with both feet until it tightened into a noose.” He also left behind two notes describing how he thought society treated him poorly due to being homosexual which helped lead many people believe this could be what caused him to commit suicide – not just because of his legal In this post, we will explore five popular misconceptions about the life of Earl Van Best Jr. He is a controversial figure in American history because he was an accomplished serial killer who was never convicted for his crimes and disappeared after being questioned by police. While it’s true that some facts surrounding him are unknown or misreported, there are also many things people get wrong about his story. Let’s look at what these myths might be: Myth One: Earl killed over 65 people with one hand tied behind his back while sitting on the toilet! False Facts- The most recent estimate from law enforcement places the number closer to 11 kills but no less than seven murders; though not all can be confirmed due to lack of evidence or witnesses Myth
