Historic Hollywood

etirement benefits. He also negotiated the
Fund’s purchase of land in Calabasas for the
now famous Motion Picture Country Home.
In the early 1920s, Lesser and partners formed
West Coast Theaters, a chain of Los Angeles movie
houses. He later purchased a studio on Santa
Monica Boulevard just west of the Fairbanks-
Pickford Studio, naming it Principal Pictures.
Later, along with investors that included
Charlie Chaplin, Lesser formed the Principal
Theaters chain in areas outside of Los Angeles.
He also secured the Fox Theater on Melrose
Avenue as the first home of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 1941, as World War II loomed, Los
Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron asked Lesser to
represent the film industry on the Los Angeles
Defense Council, helping to develop wartime
safety measures for the city. Following the attack
on Pearl Harbor, Lesser became a security
clearinghouse for all studios and local theaters.
A heart attack in 1946 halted Lesser’s film
production for a year. His dedicated staff kept the
film company alive while he recuperated in Palm
Springs, where he resumed the quieter pursuit of
real estate investment and development.
By 1948, Lesser returned to living most of
the year in Los Angeles, producing motion
pictures until 1958, when he sold Sol Lesser
Productions to New York investors. Following
that, he was invited by Los Angeles County
Supervisor Ernest Debs to establish a County
Hollywood Museum. He accepted and gained
the support of all the major studios.
The County acquired land on Highland
Avenue directly opposite the Hollywood Bowl
for its museum, but by 1964, costs of the
proposed museum had soared and the plans
were tabled. Today the Hollywood Heritage
Museum operates in the historic Lasky-De Mille
Barn on that same site.
At seventy-five, Lesser turned to academia as
adjunct professor in USC’s School of Cinema.
He also served on the theater arts faculty at the
University of Redlands, which awarded him an
honorary degree. Lesser took this work
seriously and at 86, earned a Masters degree in
Fine Arts at USC, becoming the oldest recipient
of such a degree in the institution’s history.
Lesser was awarded the Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. And Kon Tiki (1950), a
sixteen-millimeter documentary Lesser converted
into a theatrical feature, earned an Oscar as best
documentary feature of the year as well.
Lesser, who died in 1980 at the age of ninety,
will always be remembered for his notable
contributions to the Hollywood community,
giving more to the film industry than he took.
❖
Above: Gordon Scott, as Tarzan with
Sol Lesser, c. 1954.
Below: Sol Lesser in academic robe
after receiving an honorary degree
from University of Redlands, c. 1972.
The Oscars on Lesser’s desk are for
Kon Tiki (“Best Documentary
Feature”) and the Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award.
Sharing the Heritage ✦ 63