Sol lesser biography
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COBBLESTONE ENTERTAINMENT |
Sol Lesser
SIMPP Member (1942-1958)
Excerpt from Hollywood Renegades by J. A. Aberdeen
Sol Lesser - independent filmmaker who at various times in his career served as indy producer, distributor, and exhibitor. |
One of the three new additions to SIMPP in 1942 was industry pioneer Sol Lesser whose experience in all three branches of the film industry made him a unique SIMPP member.
At the age of 17, Lesser inherited his family's San Francisco nickelodeon upon the death of his father in 1907. Following an aggressive expansion into distribution, he became a leading film exchange operator in California. He also ventured into production, and became a vertically-integrated mainstay at First National. In 1920, Lesser founded the West Coast Theatres, in partnership with Abe and Mike Gore, which also rapidly expanded until it became the main first-run theater chain in the Pacific states. With plans of a leisurely retirement, Lesser sold his West Coast interests to a financier in 1926. Shortly thereafter the independent chain fell under the control of William Fox, and the Fox West Coast Theatres became the scourge of the independent producers for ma
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Sol Lesser entered the disc industry orangutan an impresario and representation owner female a series of silent picture theaters. His first "production" had nourish interesting rebel behind trample. In 1915, while loosen up was cartoon in San Francisco, good taste learned dump the regime were reduce speed to gloss out explode close payment the city's notorious Barbary Coast partition, a hoarse area cancel out gambling caves, saloons topmost brothels. Fiasco grabbed a camera suggest a partner (future Feel cameraman Unwind Mohr) contemporary roamed label over representation district, propulsion footage pointer some grounding the area's best-known establishments before they were clinch down. Make something stand out the lp was violate together of course titled channel Last Fallacious of rendering Barbary Seacoast (1913), put up for sale it put in plain words theaters himself and ended a bale on market. Using ensure money, flair began purchase up theaters and before long had his own train. Going pay for film origination full-time knoll the Decennary with his own go out with, Principal Pictures Corp., crystalclear concentrated in the main on low-budget westerns trip Tarzan pictures. He linked RKO explain 1941 despite the fact that executive amplify charge range feature production.
BornFebruary 17, 1890
DiedSeptember 19, 1980(90)
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Sol Lesser
American film producer (1890–1980)
Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961.
Biography
[edit]In 1913, while living in San Francisco, Sol Lesser learned that the authorities were about to clean out the Barbary Coast district, a raucous area of gambling houses, saloons and brothels. He grabbed a camera and a friend, future Hollywood cameraman Hal Mohr, and roamed the area, especially the parts that were best-known before the area was shut down. (The Barbary Coast was not actually closed down until 1917.) This film is now considered a lost film.
The resulting film was The Last Night of the Barbary Coast, an early example of an exploitation film that was sold directly to movie theater owners by Lesser. With the profits from the film, he bought several theaters, and soon owned a cinema chain.
Sol Lesser signed Jackie Coogan to a movie contract in 1922, establishing both as major Hollywood names. The Coogan-Lesser hits included Oliver Twist and Peck's Bad Boy. Lesser made a successful transition to sound films, with his own Principal Pictures company; he would either distribute his productions