Early Life, Family and Training James Michael Newell emerged from a large Irish family in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, born on February 21, 1900. His early identity was tied to his birth name, James Erbin Newell, a name he eventually discarded to establish his professional persona. Before his career in the arts took hold, he served as a Marine during World War I at the age of eighteen. This period of service preceded the formal technical training that would define his later output. His trajectory shifted when a scholarship from a Colonel Mills provided the necessary means to study in Paris, Fran…