Age, Biography and Wiki

Jacqueline Cochran (Bessie Lee Pittman) was born on 11 May, 1906 in Pensacola, Florida, U.S., is an American aviator and businesswoman (1906–1980). Discover Jacqueline Cochran's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is she in this year and how she spends money? Also learn how she earned most of networth at the age of 74 years old?

Popular As Bessie Lee Pittman
Occupation aviator, test pilot, spokesperson, and businessperson
Age 74 years old
Zodiac Sign Taurus
Born 11 May 1906
Birthday 11 May
Birthplace Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
Date of death 9 August, 1980
Died Place Indio, California, U.S.
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 11 May. She is a member of famous Miscellaneous with the age 74 years old group.

Jacqueline Cochran Height, Weight & Measurements

At 74 years old, Jacqueline Cochran height not available right now. We will update Jacqueline Cochran's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Jacqueline Cochran's Husband?

Her husband is Robert Cochran Floyd Bostwick Odlum

Family
Parents Not Available
Husband Robert Cochran Floyd Bostwick Odlum
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Jacqueline Cochran Net Worth

Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Jacqueline Cochran worth at the age of 74 years old? Jacqueline Cochran’s income source is mostly from being a successful Miscellaneous. She is from United States. We have estimated Jacqueline Cochran's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Miscellaneous

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Timeline

1906

Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive.

She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation.

1920

Circa 1920, (she would have been 13 or 14), she married Robert Cochran and gave birth to a son, Robert, who died in 1925 at the age of 5.

After the marriage ended, she kept the name Cochran and began using Jacqueline or Jackie as her given name.

Cochran then became a hairdresser and got a job in Pensacola, eventually moving to New York City.

There, she used her looks and driving personality to get a job at a prestigious salon at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Although Cochran denied her family and her past, she remained in touch with them and provided for them over the years.

Some of her family moved to her ranch in California after she remarried.

They were instructed to always say they were her adopted family.

Cochran apparently wanted to hide from the public the early chapters of her life and was successful in doing so until after her death.

Later Cochran met Floyd Bostwick Odlum, founder of Atlas Corp and CEO of RKO in Hollywood.

Fourteen years her senior, he was reputed to be one of the 10 wealthiest men in the world.

Odlum became enamored of Cochran and offered to help her establish a cosmetics business.

1930

After a friend offered her a ride in an aircraft, Cochran began taking flying lessons at Roosevelt Airfield, Long Island in the early 1930s and learned to fly an aircraft in three weeks.

She then soloed and within two years obtained her commercial pilot's license.

1934

Known by her friends as "Jackie", and maintaining the Cochran name, she was one of three women to compete in the MacRobertson Air Race in 1934.

1936

Odlum, whom she married in 1936 after his divorce, was an astute financier and savvy marketer who recognized the value of publicity for her business.

Calling her line of cosmetics Wings to Beauty, she flew her own aircraft around the country promoting her products.

Years later, Odlum used his Hollywood connections to get Marilyn Monroe to endorse Cochran's line of lipstick.

1937

In 1937, she was the only woman to compete in the Bendix race and worked with Amelia Earhart to open the race to women.

That year, she also set a new women's world speed record.

1938

By 1938, she was considered the best female pilot in the United States.

She had won the Bendix and set a new transcontinental speed record as well as altitude records.

Cochran was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic.

She won five Harmon Trophies.

Sometimes called the "Speed Queen", at the time of her death she held more speed, distance, or altitude records in aviation history than any other pilot.

Cochran was a friend of Amelia Earhart.

Although she was not a founding member of the Ninety-Nines, she was one of their most influential members.

1941

She was president of the Ninety-Nines from 1941 to 1943, and was instrumental in ensuring that women pilots would be able to participate in the newly-founded Civil Air Patrol as well as the WASP.

In her monthly editorials for the Ninety-Nines Newsletter, she exhorted members to join the CAP or the WASP, and to do what they could to help the war effort.

Before the United States joined World War II, Cochran was part of "Wings for Britain", an organization that ferried American-built aircraft to Britain, becoming the first woman to fly a bomber (a Lockheed Hudson V) across the Atlantic.

In Britain, she volunteered her services to the Royal Air Force.

For several months she worked for the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), recruiting qualified women pilots in the United States and taking them to England where they joined the ATA.

Cochran attained the rank of Flight Captain (equivalent to a Squadron Leader in the RAF or a Major in the U.S. Air Force) in the ATA.

1943

Cochran (along with Nancy Love) was the wartime head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (1943–1944), which employed about 1000 civilian American women in a non-combat role to ferry planes from factories to port cities.

Cochran was later a sponsor of the Mercury 13 women astronaut program.

Jacqueline Cochran, born Bessie Lee Pittman, in Pensacola, (some sources indicate she was born in DeFuniak Springs) in the Florida Panhandle, was the youngest of the five children of Mary (Grant) and Ira Pittman, a skilled millwright who frequently relocated setting up and reworking sawmills.

While her family was not wealthy, Cochran's childhood living in small-town Florida was similar to those in other families of the era.

Contrary to some accounts, there was always food on the table and she was not adopted, as she often claimed.

1953

She set numerous records and was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953.