Frank Ledbetter

Frank Ledbetter, a Theodore-based craftsman who became an artist late in life after a family tragedy, is a competitor on the Netflix show Metal Shop Masters, on which he will compete against other metalworkers, AL.com reports. Ledbetter ran a metal fabrication company until 2001, when he and his wife, Terri, lost their teenage son, Blake, in an accident. “In the grieving process, I discovered this artistic side I didn’t know I had,” he explains in the first episode. “It gave me a reason to carry on.” All six of the half-hour-long episodes, which include insights into the tools and techniques of artistic welding, are now available on Netflix.