Leon Norman Hefflin Sr. (August 17, 1898 – November 20, 1975) was a pioneering African-American producer, director, business owner, furniture manufacturer, and entrepreneur. After losing his large and successful manufacturing business in the Depression he rebounded to produce the first and largest outdoor jazz entertainment event of its kind, the "

Cavalcade of Jazz The Cavalcade of Jazz events were large outdoor jazz festivals held annually between 1945 and 1958 in Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California, U.S. They were the first such large-scale events and were produced by an African American, Leon Hefflin, ...

," in 1945. Held at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

in Los Angeles, it was part of the Central Ave jazz scene, and showcased over 125 artists over 15 years.

Early life

Leon Hefflin was born in 1898 in

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the County seat, seat of Anderson County, Texas, Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named after Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker (Baptist), Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that ...

. His father was a blacksmith and his mother was a cook. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2, shortly after the murder of their father. He began technical training in grammar school and found he had a gift for woodworking. He excelled above all other students at 14th Street Intermediate School and his handiwork was entered into the State Exposition in 1915.

Entrepreneur

Hefflin opened Hefflin Manufacturing Company. He moved his factory four times. Hefflin developed many departments within his factory; dining rooms, living rooms and caskets. Leon was one of the first African-Americans to offer his investors

capital stock In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level, ...

. Hefflin presented his business plans to the Business League Annual Meeting in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, Oklahoma (Black Wall Street) in order to expand. He had a factory built and designed by

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

in which he had over 50 employees. Hefflin was listed as one of a few Negro businesses at the time and was valued at $200,000. It was devoted to manufacturing furniture toy making. He eventually lost it at the start of the Depression.

Cavalcade of Jazz

The Cavalcade of Jazz included performances from Toni Harper,

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...

, Frankie Lane and others. Leon's last concert was held at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...

on August 3, 1958. He hosted a beauty contest at the events. His first COJ show starred

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, The Honey Drippers, Valaida Snow, Joe Turner, The Peters Sisters, Slim and Bam and more artists on September 23, 1945. He also produced "Sweet N' Hot" featuring

Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for '' Carmen Jones'' (1954). Dandridge had a ...

at the Mayan Theatre downtown Los Angeles. In 1940 he presented the Wings Over Jordan Choir in the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

. The

and the Elks auditorium held many of his events. He built and operated the Royal Appomattox Club and owned a 250-room hotel with cafe.

Sweet 'n' Hot

Leon rented the Mayan Theater downtown Los Angeles to produce the "Greatest Negro All Star Musical to Hit Coast". His business partner was Curtis Mosby. The featured performer was Dorothy Dandridge. The show had a run of eleven weeks and was going to New York. It closed to rave reviews.""Sweet 'N' Hot" Revamped; Long Run Predicted" by Herman Hill Pittsburgh Courier March 12, 1944 and was covered by 20 newspapers across the country.

References

External links

Leon Hefflin, Sr at Find-a-Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hefflin, Leon 1898 births 1975 deaths American producers 20th-century American businesspeople