Early Life
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Gann was the son of a prosperous Midwestern family. His father made his fortune as an executive with General Telephone and Telegraph in Lincoln, Nebraska; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois. Rebelling against his father's strong desire that he follow in the family telephone business, Ernest pursued several other interests as he grew up. He was fascinated by several fields including film, photography, and aviation. As a young man, he showed little interest in school and performed poorly. His parents decided that he needed discipline and that he should attend military school. He was sent to the Culver Military Academy (now Culver Academies) for his high school years. Despite many misadventures and struggles within the harsh academic environment and strict rules at Culver, he graduated in 1930. He elected to pursue filmmaking and attended the Yale School of Drama. Following his studies at Yale, Gann worked in New York City at Radio City Music Hall as a projectionist and later as a commercial movie cartoonist.
On September 18, 1933, Gann married Eleanor Helen Michaud in Chicago, Illinois. They eventually had three children; George Kellogg Gann, born November 12, 1935; Polly Wing Gann; and Steven Anthony Gann, born March 4, 1941.
A chance encounter landed Gann a job with The March of Time, a documentary film series associated with Time magazine. In 1936, while working on the feature Inside Nazi Germany, Gann narrowly escaped Hitler’s advancing troops as they marched into the Rhineland. Returning to New York, he moved his family to a new home in Rockland County where the lure of a local airport, Christie Brothers in Congers, New York, rekindled his interest in aviation. He purchased a half partnership in a Stinson Gull Wing aircraft with actor Burgess Meredith, obtained his pilot license, and quickly became an accomplished aviator.
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