profits from World War II when it provided air transportation to the military. Continental also performed military aircraft modification work at its Denver maintenance facilities. Six spent some time during the war in the United States Army Air Corps and was involved in planning improved routes to ferry American aircraft to the European theater. Six's work there represented significant improvements over original routes which had seen aircraft losses due to weather. He returned to Continental before the war ended and resumed his leadership role. In 1951 Six met Broadway legend Ethel Merman in a New York city nightclub. Merman, a two-time divorcee, felt enchanted by Six's strong demeanor and common sense. Following a courtship, they married in 1953, and she took a hiatus from her Broadway career and moved to Colorado with him, settling into a 27-room mansion in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado near Denver. There, life with Six became oppressive, and, according to Merman's son, he, his sister and mother and even his elderly grandparents suffered dramatic episodes of emotional and physical violence from a regularly explosive Six, who, behind his back, was called Jumbo and Big Meanie by his stepchildren. Merman found Denver society rural and limited after that of New York. Six and Merman divorced in 1960. In Six's view, Merman had failed him in not becoming a public relations prop for Continental. In 1953 Continental merged with Pioneer Airlines, gaining access to 16 more cities in Texas and New Mexico. This merger allowed Continental Airlines to operate routes between Texas and Colorado/New Mexico, connecting with the line's Denver-Albuquerque-El Paso services. Dramatic expansion and move to Los Angeles By the end of the 1950s, Continental Airlines had seen a broad expansion of its routes. In 1957, it flew for the first time from Chicago to Los Angeles (both nonstop and via Denver), and from Denver and Los Angeles to Kansas City. Continental was one of the first operators of the Boeing 707, taking delivery of its first 707s in spring of 1959. Six, not being satisfied with jet service alone, introduced dramatic service innovations with Continental's 707 operations, which were described as "...nothing short of luxurious" by the Los Angeles Times, and, "...clearly, the finest in the airline industry" by the Chicago Tribune. In 1961 in Honolulu, Six married Hollywood star Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners television fame (Meadows played the role of Alice Kramden). The feisty