| Gunther R. Lessing - SIMPP ChairmanVice-president of Walt Disney Productions Excerpt from Hollywood Renegades by J. A. Aberdeen Walt Disney legal counsel Gunther R. Lessing. SIMPP executive secretary John Flinn had been put in charge of anewly-expanded Hollywood base of operations. Unfortunately Flinn diedunexpectedly in 1946, leaving his duties to be filled by several emergingfigures in the Society. Flinn's actual position was occupied by a new secretaryMarvin L. Faris. However, many of the executive responsibilities were assumed byrepresentatives of the leading producers-specifically two key delegates: JamesMulvey, president of Samuel Goldwyn, Inc., and Gunther Lessing, vicepresident of Walt Disney Productions. Gunther R. Lessing Gunther R. Lessing, one of the most colorful and controversial Disneyfigures, has usually been overlooked or over-exaggerated by historians. Heheaded Disney's legal department for many years before the Disney brotherspromoted him to vice president and general counsel of Walt Disney Productions.At the Disney studio, known for its laid back atmosphere where everyone wasaddressed by their first name, it was Gunther Lessing who Walt referred to whenhe said, "The only Mister we have at the studio is our lawyer, Mr.Lessing." Lessing earned his law degree from Yale, and spent his early career in Mexicowhere, most Disney biographies say, he briefly acted as council for PanchoVilla. According to historian Kevin Brownlow, Lessing arranged the strange 1913deal between Villa and the Mutual Film Corporation to create a silent moviebased on the outlaw. He came in contact with the Disney studio during the earlyMickey Mouse years, when the Disneys battled with their states-rightsdistributor Patrick A. Powers-a former partner of Carl Laemmle's and aconsummate example of a former two-fisted independent outlaw who graduated tofilm-baron status only to torment other independents. The Disney brothers hiredGunther Lessing to represent them in late 1929 and early 1930 to protect theirrights to their cartoons from the predatory Pat Powers. Lessing stayed at thestudio for 35 years. Lessing's influence on the Disney enterprise has been difficult to determinedue to the sinister spin most Disney chroniclers give to his career at thestudio. On a positive note, one Disney studio production manager has creditedLessing with the monumental suggestion that Walt Disney turn his own name into atrademark to serve as a brand upon which to build his company. Yet over theyears, a great deal of the studio dirty-work fell to Lessing as the Disneysempowered him with many key responsibilities. When Walt and Roy Disney went toEurope on an extended stay in the spring and summer of 1935, the administrativeduties of the company fell to Lessing who communicated with the brothers inlengthy memos. The Disney Studio Strike In the early 1940s, Lessing became the subject of scorn as the conservativeleader of the anti-unionization effort to shield the Disney studio fromorganized labor. Lessing was also a member of the Short Subjects Committee forthe Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, and arranged to haveWalt Disney taken out of the country on a good-will tour of South America in1941 while Lessing and Roy Disney handled the labor negotiations. Ultimately theinfamous strike was settled in Walt Disney's absence and-largely to hisdisappointment-in favor of the unions, despite Lessing's hardball tactics. At least one Disney employee later suggested that the disastrous resolutionto the strike undermined Lessing's authority at the studio. Subsequentbiographers characterized the aging attorney as a sympathy case, kept on at thestudio due to the loyalty the Disneys customarily showed to longtime employeeswho were no longer necessarily of use to the company. However, thischaracterization of Lessing as a "broken-hearted old man" contrastedwith the continued responsibility placed on Gunther Lessing. After he was kickedupstairs to serve as vice president, he remained as spokesperson on most of thestudio's important legal matters. He presided at the Disney studio boardmeetings which Walt Disney, the chairman of the board, infrequently attended,and which Lessing always headed even when Disney's presence was requested.Lessing was also thrust in the firing lines to tackle difficult situations suchas the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s where he servedas Walt Disney's close advisor. The Disneys were willing to engage their trustedlegal counsel in potentially confrontational film activities, and found theSociety of Independent Motion Picture Producers to be an appropriate match forLessing. Both James Mulvey and Gunther Lessing becameimportant leaders of the Society. Mulvey would demonstrate his resourcefulnessas a negotiator representing the independent producers in many of the foreignterritorial disputes over quotas, while on the legal front, Lessing wouldstimulate the Society's antitrust agenda. As Mulvey and Lessing's influencegrew, it also illustrated the prominence of the two most important SIMPPmembers, Goldwyn and Disney. Ron Miller (Walt Disney's son-in-law), Mel Melton, Gunther Lessing, and production manager Harry Tytle (aka Teitel) at one of the retirement parties given for Lessing in 1964. At SIMPP Until the End SIMPP's Gunther R. Lessing remained a prominent Disney executive even afterSIMPP folded. He retired in 1964, almost exactly 35 years after he joined theDisney brothers' family business. Walt Disney, who almost never attended anyretirement parties for his employees, gave high praise to Lessing during hisretirement roast in December 1964. Gunther Lessing died at age 80 on September28, 1965, less than three months before Walt Disney's death. SOURCES: Death of John Flinn: Mary Pickford to Courtney A. Flinn, 1946,MPC. See Bibliography. |
