Owen Wilson plays San Antonio adventurer, businessman Tom Slick in new podcast

A new scripted podcast series is using the voice of Hollywood actor Owen Wilson to resurrect San Antonio adventurer, businessman and inventor Tom Slick, whom the project's creators tout as "the most interesting man you’ve never heard of."

Dallas-born Wilson ( The Royal Tenenbaums , Midnight in Paris ) will star alongside Sissy Spacek and Schuyler Fisk in Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter , distributed by Alamo City-based media company iHeartMedia. The eight-part series will debut Thursday, July 18, via iHeartMedia and other outlets, according to an online promo kit .

Written by Jeb Stuart ( Die Hard , Vikings: Valhalla ) and Caroline Slaughter ( Astray , LAMB ), the series will chronicle the life of Slick, who rubbed shoulders with celebrities such as Howard Hughes and Jimmy Stewart and had a globetrotting fascination with cryptozoology , including multiple excursions to seek out the Yeti — some with the backing of the San Antonio Zoo.

"Tom Slick’s epic story will be told through hidden tapes found by his granddaughter, Liv Slick, (Schuyler Fisk) buried in her mother, Claire Slick’s (Sissy Spacek) attic," according to iHeartMedia's description of the podcast. "As they listen together, they will uncover unbelievable stories inspired by actual events from Tom Slick’s life, which include the kidnapping of his stepfather by the infamous bank robber Machine Gun Kelly, a covert OSS operation ( predecessor to the CIA ) to stop a Nazi spy ring in Latin America, and his relentless hunt for the elusive Yeti."

Beyond having his name on a far West Side park, Slick is best known around San Antonio for the groundbreaking business and research ventures he launched after inheriting his father's wildcatting fortune.

During the 1940s, the oil heir established San Antonio's Southwest Research Foundation in addition to the organization that later rebranded as the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Years later, he developed the Mind Science Foundation, another SA-based research venture.

Slick, who died in a 1962 plane crash, was also an avid collector of modern art. His collection has been exhibited at the McNay Art Museum.

History buffs be warned, however. As if Slick's life wasn't fascinating enough on its own, iHeartMedia warned in a disclaimer that some of T om Slick: Mystery Hunter's " story elements, names and characters have been altered for dramatic purposes."

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