William Mark Felt Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: William Mark Felt
OCCUPATION: Government Official
BIRTH DATE: August 17, 1914
DEATH DATE: December 18, 2008
EDUCATION: Twin Falls Senior High School, University of Idaho, George Washington University Law School
PLACE OF BIRTH: Twin Falls, Idaho
PLACE OF DEATH: Santa Rosa, California
AKA: Deep Throat

Best Known For

William Mark Felt was an associate director of the FBI who became a secret informant and broke the Watergate story to reporters.

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William Mark Felt

APA Style

William Mark Felt. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:32, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780.

Harvard Style

William Mark Felt. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780 [Accessed 22 May 2013].

MLA Style

"William Mark Felt." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 12:32 http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780.

MHRA Style

"William Mark Felt," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780 [accessed May 22, 2013].

Chicago Style

"William Mark Felt," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780 (accessed May 22, 2013).

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William Mark Felt [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780.

Bluebook Style

William Mark Felt, http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780 (last visited May 22, 2013).

AMA Style

William Mark Felt. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/william-mark-felt-396780. Accessed May 22, 2013.

The hot tip gave journalists enough leverage to call for a widespread investigation of the White House's activities, and sped up what would have otherwise become a slow and lengthy trial.

The televised trials in 1973 revealed a string of criminal acts involving campaign fraud, political espionage, breaking and entering, and illegal wiretapping that all led back to President Nixon and his staff. The evidence eventually led to Nixon’s resignation on August 8th, 1974. Yet even after the trial,

the identity of the man known as Deep Throat remained a mystery.

Identified as Deep Throat

Felt retired from the FBI on June 22nd, 1973. But it wasn't until May 31st, 2005, that he broke his silence in an issue of Vanity Fair. After suffering a stroke, and encountering serious illness, his daughter, Joan, persuaded him to go public. The article revealed Felt's identity as Deep Throat. Woodward and Bernstein later confirmed this to be fact.

On December 18th, 2008, Mark Felt died after suffering from congestive heart failure. He and his wife Audrey, who died in 1984, had two children, Mark and Joan. They lived in Santa Rosa, California.