Leon Schlesinger
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| Leon Schlesinger | |
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 Leon Schlesinger, playing himself in the 1940 Looney Tunes short You Ought to Be in Pictures. |
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| Born | May 20, 1884 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 25, 1949 (aged 65) Los Angeles, California |
Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
Schlesinger was born in Philadelphia. After working at a theater as an usher, songbook agent, actor, and manager (including the Palace Theater in Buffalo, NY (source Buffalo News, April 15, 1944), he founded Pacific Title and Art in 1919, where most of his business was producing title cards for silent films. As talking pictures ("talkies") gained popularity in 1929 and 1930, Schlesinger looked for ways to capitalize on the new technology and stay in business. Legend claims that he helped finance the Warner brothers' first talkie, The Jazz Singer. He then secured a contract with the studio to produce its brand-new Looney Tunes series, and he signed animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising to create these cartoons with their Bosko character as the star.
[edit] Schlesinger as a shrewd businessman
Schlesinger was a shrewd businessman with a keen eye for talent. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. with Bosko in 1934, Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. lot on Sunset Boulevard. He wooed animators away from other studios, including some of those who had departed with Harman and Ising. One of these was Friz Freleng, who Schlesinger promoted to oversee production of Looney Tunes and to develop the sister series, Merrie Melodies. Freleng's talent quickly shone through, and Schlesinger's hiring of Frederick "Tex" Avery, Carl Stalling, and Frank Tashlin further increased the quality of the studio's output. He later added Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, and Mel Blanc, and collectively these men created such famous characters as Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. Schlesinger largely took a "hands off" approach to the animation unit, allowing his directors freedom to create what they wished. The films only had to do well in the theaters. Schlesinger sold Pacific Title & Art in 1935 to concentrate on his animation studio.
[edit] Schlesinger's hard-nosed business practices
Schlesinger's hard-nosed business practices cannot be overstated. His animators worked in a dilapidated studio (Avery's unit were briefly assigned to a bungalow they dubbed "Termite Terrace"), and Schlesinger briefly shut down the studio in 1941 and 1942 when unionized employees demanded a pay raise. On another occasion, he boycotted the Academy Awards for what he claimed was preferential treatment for Walt Disney Studios. He also farmed some of the Looney Tunes out to his brother-in-law, Ray Katz, for tax breaks. Schlesinger was also known (among his animators, at least) for his lisp. In fact, Mel Blanc patterned the voices of both Daffy Duck and Sylvester the cat on Schlesinger, something the producer never acknowledged noticing. Animators who worked with him also found him conceited and somewhat foppish, wearing too much cologne and dressing like a dandy.
[edit] Appearances in shorts
Leon Schlesinger appeared as himself in Freleng's 1940 short You Ought to Be in Pictures, a short that combines live action with animation. In this short, Daffy Duck, angling to become the biggest star in the studio (Bugs Bunny had yet to make his debut), convinces Porky Pig that there is a bigger future in feature films than in cartoons. Porky takes his contention to "the boss" - Schlesinger himself.
[edit] Later life and career
Schlesinger remained head of the animation studio until 1944 when he sold his assets to Warner Bros. He continued to market the characters until his death from a viral infection on Christmas Day, 1949 at age 65. Schlesinger also produced a number of B-movie Westerns in the 1930s. After Warner Bros. bought Schlesinger's studio, Eddie Selzer assumed Schlesinger's position as producer.
