Johnathan Walton Explained

Occupation:	Journalist and podcaster
Website:	https://johnathanwalton.com/

Johnathan Walton is the host of the podcast "Queen of the Con: The Irish Heiress" and is a vigilante who hunts down con artists. The first con artist Walton put in jail was Marianne Smyth aka Mair Smyth aka Marianne Clark,^[1] who scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars from 43 victims, including Walton himself,^[2] in the United States and Europe, using an elaborate series of confidence tricks.^{[3] [4]} She was convicted of stealing money from him and spent about two years in jail.^[5]

Walton also works as a producer on reality television shows like American Ninja Warrior for NBC, Shark Tank for ABC and Savage Builds for the Discovery Channel.^[6] His career in unscripted television was preceded by a 10-year stint as an Emmy Award-winning TV news reporter and producer at local stations KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas, KABB-TV in San Antonio, Texas and WSVN-TV in Miami, Florida.^{[7] [8]}

Awards

• Has won four Regional Emmys for his primetime television specials for CBS Houston (KHOU-TV).
  • 2006 Emmy for Walton's World Gone Wild aired Dec. 2005. KHOU-TV Houston Johnathan Walton, Reporter^[9]
  • 2005 Emmy for The Best of Walton's World Strikes Back aired Dec. 2004.
  • 2004 Emmy for The Best of Walton's World Gone Wild^[10]
  • 2003 Emmy for Christmas in Walton's World show.^{[11] [12]}
• 2004 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters First Place Light Feature.^[13]
• Numerous Houston Press Club Lone Star Awards
• 2003 Houston Chronicle Award for "Baffoon". Described as "A pudgy, puckish clown for the 21st century,"^[14]
• 2006 Houston Chronicle Award for Funny Person on Local TV. Described as "tickles us best"^[15]

References

1. Web site: Suspected con artist heads to DTLA court over grand theft charges . 2024-05-28 . ABC7 Los Angeles . en.
2. Web site: Walton . Johnathan . Official website . 2024-05-28 . Johnathan Walton . en-US.
3. Web site: Cunningham . Waylon . 2019-01-11 . Maryville-raised con artist convicted in Los Angeles . 2024-05-28 . The Daily Times . en.
4. Web site: Kilkenney . Katie . The Hollywood Producer, the "Heiress" and a Very Personal Quest for Justice . 13 February 2020 . The Hollywood Reporter.
5. Web site: Whittle . Patrick . 2024-05-09 . Scammer who claimed to be an Irish heiress should be extradited to UK, judge rules . 2024-05-28 . AP News . en.
6. Web site: Johnathan Walton Producer, Writer, Director . 2024-05-28 . IMDb . en-US.
7. https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/The-best-gig-on-TV-1869078.php
8. https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Houston-stations-snag-several-Lone-Star-Emmy-1581935.php
9. Web site: Lone Star Chapter of NATAS - Emmy Awards . 2006-10-25 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070110181142/http://lonestaremmy.org/_emmy_awards/overview.php . 2007-01-10 . 2006 Lone Star Emmy
10. http://lonestaremmy.org/_archives/2005_winners.php
11. Web site: Archived copy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070606094404/http://lonestaremmy.org/_archives/2004_winners.php . 2007-06-06 . 2007-06-18. 2004 Lone Star Emmy
12. http://www.ahbelo.com/pressRelease.x2?release=20041020-593.html
13. Web site: Belo Corp. | Press Releases . 2006-09-12 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20060905185841/http://www.belo.com/pressRelease.x2?release=20040311-363.html . 2006-09-05 . Walton wins First Place Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Award for Light Feature
14. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ultimate/people/2082232.html
15. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ultimate/05/media/3345833.html

External links

• "Queen of the Con: The Irish Heiress" Podcast
• Con artist Marianne Smyth Documentary website