Richard Jewell Biography, Early Life, Death, Spouse, Net Worth, Bombing, News, and FAQs
Richard Jewell Biography
Richard Jewell was an American police officer and security guard. While working as a security guard for AT&T, he became known in connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Discovering a backpack filled with three pipe bombs on the park grounds, Jewell alerted police and helped to evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. Initially hailed by the media as a hero, Jewell was later considered a suspect, before ultimately being cleared. Jewell’s case is considered an example of the damage that can be done by media based on bias.
Despite never being charged, he underwent a “trial by media” with a great toll on his personal and professional life. Jewell was eventually completely exonerated, and Eric Rudolph was later found to have been the bomber. In 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue publicly thanked Jewell on behalf of the State of Georgia for saving the lives of those at the Olympics. Jewell died on August 29, 2007, of heart failure from complications of diabetes at age 44.
Richard Jewell Early Life
Jewell was born Richard White in Danville, Georgia, the son of Bobi, an insurance claims co-ordinator, and Robert Earl White, who worked for Chevrolet. Richard’s parents divorced when he was four. His mother remarried, to John Jewell, an insurance executive, who adopted Richard.
Richard Jewell Age
Richard Jewell was born on December 17, 1962, and died on August 29, 2007, was an American police officer who, while working as a security guard for Piedmont College, became known in connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Richard Jewell Death
Jewell died on August 29, 2007, of heart failure from complications of diabetes at age 44.
Richard Jewell Family
After doing our research, details about his parents are not available and it is also not known if he has any siblings.
Richard Jewell Spouse
Richard Jewell was married to Dana Jewell.
Richard Jewell net worth
Richard Allensworth Jewell net worth is
$1.6 Million.
Richard Jewell Body Measurements
- Height: Not Available
- Weight: Not Available
- Shoe Size: Not Available
- Body Shape: Not Available
- Hair Colour: Black
Richard Jewell Bombing
Centennial Olympic Park was designed as the “town square” of the Olympics, and thousands of spectators had gathered for a late concert and merrymaking. Sometime after midnight, July 27, 1996, Eric Robert Rudolph, a terrorist who would later bomb a gay nightclub and two abortion clinics, planted a green backpack containing a fragmentation-laden pipe bomb underneath a bench.
Jewell was working as a security guard for the event. He discovered the bag and alerted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers. This discovery was nine minutes before Rudolph called 9-1-1 to deliver a warning. Jewell and other security guards began clearing the immediate area so that a bomb squad could investigate the suspicious package. The bomb exploded 13 minutes later, killing Alice Hawthorne and injuring over one hundred others. A cameraman also died of a heart attack while running to cover the incident.
Richard Jewell News
Richard Jewell, 44, Hero of Atlanta Attack, Dies
ATLANTA, Aug. 29 Richard A. Jewell, whose transformation from heroic security guard to Olympic bombing suspect and back again came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media, died Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, Ga. He was 44.
The cause of death was not released, pending the results of an autopsy that will be performed Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But the coroner in Meriwether County, about 60 miles southwest of here, said that Mr. Jewell died of natural causes and that he had battled serious medical problems since learning he had diabetes in February.
The coroner, Johnny E. Worley, said that Mr. Jewell’s wife, Dana, came home from work Wednesday morning to check on him after not being able to reach him by telephone. She found him dead on the floor of their bedroom, he said. Mr. Worley said Mr. Jewell had suffered kidney failure and had had several toes amputated since the diabetes diagnosis.
He just started going downhill ever since,” Mr. Worley said.
The heavy-set Mr. Jewell, with a country drawl and a deferential manner, became an instant celebrity after a bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta in the early hours of July 27, 1996, at the midpoint of the Summer Games. The explosion, which propelled hundreds of nails through the darkness, killed one woman, injured 111 people and changed the mood of the Olympiad.
Only minutes earlier, Mr. Jewell, who was working a temporary job as a guard, had spotted the abandoned green knapsack that contained the bomb, called it to the attention of the police, and started moving visitors away from the area. He was praised for the quick thinking that presumably saved lives.
But three days later, he found himself identified in an article in The Atlanta Journal as the focus of police attention, leading to several searches of his apartment and surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and by reporters who set upon him, he would later say, “like piranha on a bleeding cow.”
The investigation by local, state and federal law enforcement officers lasted until late October 1996 and included a number of bungled tactics, including an F.B.I. agent’s effort to question Mr. Jewell on camera under the pretense of making a training film.
In October 1996, when it became obvious that Mr. Jewell had not been involved in the bombing, the Justice Department formally cleared him.
“The tragedy was that his sense of duty and diligence made him a suspect,” said John R. Martin, one of Mr. Jewell’s lawyers. “He really prided himself on being a professional police officer, and the irony is that he became the poster child for the wrongly accused.”
In 2005, Eric R. Rudolph, a North Carolina man who became a suspect in the subsequent bombing of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., pleaded guilty to the Olympic park attack. He is serving a life sentence.
Even after being cleared, Mr. Jewell said he never felt he could outrun his notoriety. He sued several major news media outlets and won settlements from NBC and CNN. His libel case against his primary nemesis, Cox Enterprises, the Atlanta newspaper’s parent company, wound through the courts for a decade without resolution, though much of it was dismissed along the way.
After memories of the case subsided, Mr. Jewell took jobs with several small Georgia law enforcement agencies, most recently as a Meriwether County sheriff’s deputy in 2005. Col. Chuck Smith, the chief deputy, called Mr. Jewell “very, very conscientious” and said he also served as a training officer and firearms instructor.
Mr. Jewell is survived by his wife and by his mother, Barbara.
Last year, Mr. Jewell received a commendation from Gov. Sonny Perdue, who publicly thanked him on behalf of the state for saving lives at the Olympics.
Frequently Asked Questions About Richard Jewell
Who is R. Jewell?
He was an American police officer and security guard.
How old is R. Jewell?
He was born on December 17, 1962and died on August 29, 2007 (aged 44).
How tall is R. Jewell?
Not known.
Was R. Jewell married?
Yes. Jewell was married to Dana Jewell.
Is R. Jewell dead or alive?
He is dead. Jewell died at the age of 44 on August 29, 2007. He suffered from significant diabetes-related medical issues.
What happened to R. Jewell?
In July 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, provoked by a reporter’s question at her usual weekly news convention, expressed dissatisfaction over the FBI’s exposure to the broadcast media that led to the broad presumption of his guilt, and regretted outright, saying, “I’m very sorry it happened. I think we owe him an apology. I regret the leak.”
Also in 1997, Jewell made country appearances in film and television. He appeared in Michael Moore’s 1997 movie, The Big One. He had a cameo in the September 27, 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live, in which he jokingly opposed suggestions that he was guilty of the deaths of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.
On July 4, 2001, Jewell was acknowledged as the Grand Marshal of the Carmel, Indiana’s Independence Day Parade. Jewell was adopted in keeping with the parade’s idea of “Unsung Heroes.
On April 13, 2005, Jewell was justified completely when Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the bombing strike at the Centennial Olympic Park, as well as three other crimes across the South. On August 1, 2006, Georgia governor Sonny Perdue praised Jewell for his rescue efforts during the siege.
Jewell had served in various law enforcement jobs, including as a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia. He served as a delegate sheriff in Meriwether County, Georgia until his demise. He also gave lectures at colleges.
On each anniversary of the attack until his ailment and eventual death, he would secretly place a rose at the Centennial Olympic Park scene where spectator Alice Hawthorne died.
Jewell died August 29, 2007, at the age of 44. He was ailing from severe heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes.
In 2014, 20th Century Fox published that they had acquired the filming rights to Marie Brenner’s 1997 Vanity Fair article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell with Jonah Hill confirmed to play Jewell and Leonardo DiCaprio set to play his attorney. In April 2019, Clint Eastwood was attached to direct the project.
While Hill and DiCaprio are no longer attached to star in the film, they serve as producers. On May 24, 2019, it was announced that Eastwood’s next film would be Richard Jewell, which he would direct and produce. Warner Bros. will distribute the film after obtaining the rights from the Walt Disney Company, who purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019 and passed on the script, allowing Warner Bros. to purchase it.
At press time, Eastwood hoped to begin shooting the film in late 2019. Sam Rockwell was cast as Jewell’s attorney. Two days later, Paul Walter Hauser was cast as Jewell. The film is set for release in the United States on December 13, 2019.
There is a small bridge named in his honor eastbound on US Highway 82 between Mile Markers 15 & 16 (Waycross to Tifton)
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