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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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