Gregson Edward Bautzer (April 3, 1911 – October 26, 1987) was an American attorney who represented such individuals as
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
,
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
and
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
,
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverl ...
,
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
and
William R. Wilkerson
William Richard "Billy" Wilkerson (September 29, 1890 – September 2, 1962) was the founder of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', a real estate developer in Las Vegas and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. His series of columns known as "Billy's L ...
.
Early life
Bautzer was born in the Los Angeles community of
San Pedro, California
San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
to Edward H. Bautzer, a descendant of German immigrants, and his wife Blanche Buckhout. The elder Bautzer was active in the San Pedro community, a civic leader, political activist and attorney. Bautzer's mother, before her marriage, had been a school teacher.
[Gladstone, James B., "The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer," Chicago Review Press, 2013, Part I, Chapter 1, ''The Debate Champ,'' e-book] Bautzer's father died when he was ten years old. From a young age, Bautzer stated his intent to follow in his father's footsteps by practicing law. After his father's death, Bautzer's widowed mother returned to teaching. Bautzer contributed financially by taking after school jobs, selling newspapers, performing janitorial work on yachts harbored in San Pedro, and waiting on tables in local eateries.
Bautzer attended
San Pedro High School
San Pedro High School is a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and is located in the San Pedro portion of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school serves the entirety of San Pedro as well as most of the Eastvie ...
where he was an exemplary student. A self-disciplined young man of considerable scholastic achievement, he was also endowed with a congenial, enthusiastic personality that easily attracted friendships.
While in high school, Bautzer took an active interest in public speaking and while yet a teenager, gained community recognition for his debating skills. He proceeded to enter national oratorical competitions. In 1926, he took second place in the West Coast division of the National Oratorical Contest, winning two hundred fifty dollars.
In 1927, Bautzer and his mother relocated to another part of Los Angeles where she had accepted an appointment as principal of an area school. In 1928, he entered the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
on a scholarship. He became a member of the
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity
Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Penn ...
, the Skull and Dagger honor society, and captain of the varsity debate team. In 1930, he was honored by being selected as one of three university students to be on the All California Collegiate Debate team. Bautzer graduated with a bachelor's degree from
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
in June 1932. Before continuing his education at
USC Law School
The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...
, he took a year off from his studies to work and save money. He obtained his law degree in 1936.
Personal life
While attending law school, Bautzer met
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
Marion Jahns; they married on January 2, 1935 and divorced in 1937.
After becoming established in Hollywood, Bautzer was engaged to actresses
Barbara Payton
Barbara Lee Payton (born Barbara Lee Redfield; November 16, 1927 – May 8, 1967) was an American film actress best known for her stormy social life and battles with alcoholism and drug addiction. Her life has been the subject of several bo ...
,
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...
and
Lana Turner
Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized per ...
. Turner was only 16 when she and Bautzer started to date. He had another brief marriage to actress
Buff Cobb
Buff Cobb (born Patrizia Cobb Chapman, October 19, 1927 – July 12, 2010)Hevesi, Dennis ''The New York Times'', July 21, 2010. was an Italian-born American actress and, with then-husband Mike Wallace, host of one of television's first talk-sho ...
, but the couple divorced after six months.
[ Additional, July 21, 2010.]
Bautzer's best known romance was with actress
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
. Their four-year relationship was reportedly on and off, as well as publicly heated at times, with Bautzer seen by many as Crawford's "escort".
On June 10, 1956, Bautzer married actress
Dana Wynter
Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...
. They had one son, Mark Ragan Bautzer. The couple divorced in 1981.
Death
Bautzer died of heart failure at his
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
home on October 26, 1987, at the age of 76. He is interred at
Westwood Memorial Park
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue.
The cemetery was ...
.
See also
*
Ernest Del
Ernest Del (born January 16, 1952) is an American entertainment attorney. Del served as Senior Advisor at ZeniMax Media from 2017 till 2021.
Del previously served as President of ZeniMax from 1999 up until April 2017. He also serves as a director ...
References
External links
Greg Bautzer Timeline*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bautzer, Greg
1911 births
1987 deaths
People from Beverly Hills, California
Lawyers from Los Angeles
20th-century American lawyers
American entertainment lawyers
Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery