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I first came across him in Lana Turner's memoir, and there's some interesting stories about him with Joan Crawford where he was companion for a few events for a few years, and his near fight with Bogart, and his long term marriage to Germanic Actress Dana Wynter for a few decades, as his last wife in a long troubled life of his drinking. Here's a few interesting facets of this guy's world From Beneath the Hollywood Sign As Lana's star began to skyrocket at MGM, she was thrown into a heavy workload that caused her and Bautzer to be apart more and more. As Turner was less available, Bautzer began to stray. According to B. James Gladstone's book, Turner got an unexpected phone call from movie queen JOAN CRAWFORD, inviting her to tea at her Brentwood home. At Crawford's house, over tea, Crawford informed Tuner that Bautzer was no longer in love with her and that she and Bautzer were madly in love. She added that Bautzer just hadn't figured out how to tell her. Turner was crushed. Of course, Bautzer denied it, but the seed of doubt was planted. Turner tried to continue the relationship but was plagued with doubts. In 1940, Bautzer had invited Turner and her mother, MILDRED, to dinner to celebrate Mildred's birthday. At the last minute, Bautzer canceled the plan, infuriating Turner. That same night, Artie Shaw called Turner and asked her out. She accepted, partly out of curiosity, partly out of spite. Shaw spoke Turner's language as he told her of his desires for a wife and children and a stable home life, all the things Turner craved. Before you could say, "Check, please!" Shaw and Turner hopped a plane to Las Vegas and impulsively married. It was Bautzer's turn to be crushed. However, Bautzer remained a close friend to Turner throughout their lives. In fact, when Turner's marriage to Shaw ended six months later, it was Bautzer who represented Turner in the divorce proceedings. Bautzer was loyal to those he cared about. [Lana Turner's memoirs talks about how controlling and bizarre and angry and bizarre Artie Shaw was]
After the war, Bautzer returned to Hollywood. While there was an economic boom, there was also a post-war cynicism that permeated the land. Getting back on his feet, Buatzer moved in with his old pal Billy Wilkerson and reopened his law firm. He also got busy helping Wilkerson develop the Flamingo Hotel in Vegas. When notorious gangster BENJAMIN "BUGSY" SIEGEL bullied his way into the deal and tried to push Wilkerson out, Bautzer went toe-to-toe with the mobster. Either he didn't know Siegel's reputation or didn't care, but Bautzer got Wilkinson's stake in the hotel reinstated and managed to stay alive. Soon, word of Bautzer confronting Siegel was the talk of the town, elevating his reputation and social status even further. This, in turn, caused his law practice to explode with clients.
With a successful business and free of romantic entanglements, Bautzer was a man about town once again, frequenting the hottest nightclubs and dating the prettiest women. He soon set his sights on actress JOAN CRAWFORD, the newly minted Oscar winner for Mildred Pierce (1945). Of course, he had dallied with Crawford secretly during his engagement to Lana Turner, but nothing came of it. However, with the revival of Crawford's career and the gold statue adorning her mantle, Bautzer liked the idea of rekindling their romance. He had recently helped Crawford adopt her twins from an out-of-state adoption agency. He managed to turn their business dealing into a romance, but only after grandly wooing her, who was still miffed at how things had ended previously. Not surprisingly, life with Crawford was no picnic. Crawford was a high-maintenance, demanding lover. As actress ROSALIND RUSSELL put it, "Greg treated her [Crawford] like a star. When they entered a room, he remained a few steps behind her. He often carried her dog or her knitting bag - she was always knitting - and, at the dinner table, he did everything but feed her."
Crawford helped his business considerably by referring friends like JANE WYMAN, GINGER ROGERS, JOHN GARFIELD, and even her second hubby, FRANCHOT TONE. Crawford was also quite generous to her lover, gifting him expensive jewelry, like a pair of $10,000 Cartier cuff links, and a black Cadillac convertible. Their relationship was passionate, explosive, and sometimes volatile. It was often stormy, resulting in many dramatic breakups and passionate makeups. Of course, the publicity of the Bautzer-Crawford rocky romance was fodder for all the gossip columns. Tracking whether they were together or apart became almost a sport in Hollywood circles. During some of their breakups, Bautzer managed to date skater SONJA HENIE and actresses JOAN CAULFIELD, MARILYN MAXWELL, and AVA GARDNER. Often, they would date for revenge. When Crawford began dating Lana Turner's ex-husband, restauranteur STEVE CRANE, Bautzer dated MERLE OBERON. Bautzer dated RITA HAYWORTH, so Crawford retaliated with a romance with British actor PETER SHAW.
However, they soon reconciled again, and in a gesture of love, Crawford bought matching Cadillacs for the two lovebirds. All was well...for a time. According to Gladstone's book, when Crawford heard a rumor that Bautzer was holding hands with old flame LANA TURNER, all hell broke loose at her Brentwood home. He accused her of sleeping with writer-director CHARLES MARTIN. As Bautzer stormed out of her house, he ripped off his Cartier cuff links and handed them to her. She ceremoniously flushed them down the toilet, forgetting how expensive they were. (A late-night plumber was later called to receive them.) Furious, Bautzer jumped into the Cadillac she bought for him and rammed it into a wall. During another fight, Crawford ran into her balcony and screamed for the police. When Bautzer went after her, she climbed on the roof of her house as her neighbors watched in amusem*nt. They were like an erupting volcano.
Actress ARLENE DAHL found out the hard way not to get in between Crawford and her man. When she first got to Hollywood as a 17-year-old ingènue, she was invited to a black tie party to honor COLE PORTER. At the party, she met Bautzer, who was there with Crawford. He flirted with her mercilessly. This did not go unnoticed by Crawford, who preceded to "accidentally" spill a glass of red wine all over Dahl's white dress. Actress JOAN FONTAINE witnessed this and loudly accosted Crawford, "You did that on purpose, you bitch!"
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While the battling lovers continued to fill the gossip columns with their on-again, off-again antics, Bautzer got busy defending his pal Billy Wilkerson and his paper, The Hollywood Reporter, against a libel suit from actress MYRNA LOY. It seems Wilkerson had printed a list of prominent people in Hollywood suspected of being communist sympathizers. Loy's name was on that list, along with EDWARD G. ROBINSON, ORSON WELLES, BURGESS MEREDITH, JAMES CAGNEY, and LIONEL STANDER. Loy, who was not a communist or sympathizer, sued to clear her name. After realizing she was telling the truth, Bautzer got the usually stubborn Wilkerson to retract the story and apologize. During this time, he also engaged in a series of celebrity divorces, which was becoming one of his specialties. He represented comedic actress MARTHA RAYE in her divorce from dancer NICK CONDOS. However, before the final decree, they reconciled. He also represented Dr. Kildaire actress LARAINE DAY in her divorce from airport executive JAMES R. HENDRICKS and actress PAULETTE GODDARD in her divorce from BURGESS MEREDITH. Bautzer, who had never had an aversion to mixing business with pleasure, started dating Goddard during her divorce proceedings. He also squeezed in a brief romance with "Oomph Girl" (again with the monikers!) ANN SHERIDAN at the same time.
After many embarrassing public fights, the Bautzer and Crawford relationship was at its breaking point. In October 1949, they attended a party at MGM chief LOUIS B. MAYER's house. There have been two accounts of what happened at that party, but either Bautzer was flirting with a young, pretty actress, or he ignored Crawford all night and played poker in the backroom with the boys. But either way, it set Crawforf off.
After letting fly a crystal ashtray that missed Bautzer's head by inches, she made up with him. However, as they left the party, she asked to drive. They drove along Sunset to her house in Brentwood. Sunset Boulevard was very desolate in those days, with very few homes around that area. Halfway home, Crawford pulled over and said something was wrong with one of the tires. When Greg got out to take a look, she peeled off, leaving him in the dust.
He had to walk 12 miles to the Bel-Air hotel where he lived. Feeling a bit remorseful, the next day, Bautzer showed up at Crawford's house with an armful of long-stemmed roses. The maid let him in and told him to wait.
Soon, Crawford descended the stairs in true movie star fashion. Upon seeing the roses, she asked, "Is this to apologize?" "Yes," he replied. She paused dramatically and finally said, "Then kneel as you make your apology." That was it. Bautzer had had enough. "Bullsh*t!" he barked before throwing the flowers down and storming out.
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Around this time, Bautzer also handled the high-profile divorce of crooner FRANK SINATRA. Sinatra had fallen in love with sultry AVA GARDNER, and his first wife, NANCY, was in the way. Surprisingly, Bautzer represented Nancy. Through the course of the proceedings, Buatzer put Sinatra through the wringer, winning Nancy a well-deserved and substantial settlement. Despite this, Bautzer, with his infinite charm, managed to become friends with Sinatra later. He also handled the divorce of the closeted-gay movie star ROCK HUDSON from his arranged marriage to secretary PHYLLIS GATES.
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In 1950, newspaper publisher WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST was nearing the end of his life. While still married to his wife, MILLICENT, his heart belonged to his long-time mistress, screen star MARION DAVIES. Because his wife refused to give him a divorce, he couldn't give Davies his name, but he could make her a star by producing and promoting her early films. Fearing Millicent would try to deny Davies her share of his estate, he hired Bautzer to ensure that Davies was protected. Bautzer drew up a trust agreement granting Davies control of his publishing empire. Hearst told Bautzer that he wanted him to take care of Marion when he died. Bautzer answered the call. When Hearst died in 1951, Hearst's son challenged the validity of Hearts' agreement with Davies. The courts prepared for a dramatic show-down between the grieving mistress and the belabored wife. Davies did not want this. Davies, beloved by most all in Hollywood, didn't relish the idea of a court battle and didn't want to hurt Hearst's sons, whom she was very fond of. As a compromise, Bautzer devised an alternative agreement that allowed the sons to retain control of Hearst Publishing but gave Davies a financial windfall. Bautzer continued to look after Davies, as Hearst had asked, and she became like an aunt to him. He helped Davies increase her estate through shrewd investments, including purchasing of the Palm Desert Hotel in Palm Springs. He was always there for her. When she passed away in 1961, Bautzer was an honorary pallbearer.
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One of the most intriguing relationships Bautzer had was not with a beautiful movie star. It was with reclusive billionaire HOWARD HUGHES. There are multiple accounts of how Bautzer met the tycoon in the late 1940s, but it is like likely that it was through his good pal PAT DI CICCO, who worked for Hughes in some undefined capacity - most likely, as a "talent manager," he helped procure women for Hughes.
It was no surprise that Hughes took to the brash, young attorney since they had dated several of the same women (GINGER ROGERS, AVA GARDNER). Bautzer won Hughes' confidence and cemented his place in Hughes' inner circle after satisfactorily settling a lawsuit from British actress JEAN SIMMONS and her movie star husband, STEWART GRANGER. They were attempting to get out of an acting contract with Hughes, and Bautzer found a happy compromise that made everyone happy. Soon, Bautzer was Hughes' go-to lawyer.
Hughes was known for his eccentricities, and one of Bautzer's more bizarre tasks came in the mid-1950s when Hughes charged him with approaching actress ELIZABETH TAYLOR's mother and asking for her hand in marriage.
Hughes and Taylor had never met, but he was hell-bent on marrying her.
When Bautzer presented the most unusual proposition to Taylor's mother, SARA, she thought momentarily and then asked, "Tax-free?" When Taylor found out, she was livid. She was already dating hotel magnate NICKY HILTON, who had plenty of money of his own. Hughes recovered and married actress JEAN PETERS in 1957. Some claimed that Peters was the only woman he truly ever loved. Still, this did not keep him faithful.
Besides handling the legal issues that arose from Hughes' stakes in Trans World Airlines (TWA) and RKO Pictures, Bautzer also became the handler of Hughes' harem.
Over the years, Bautzer became Hughes' most trusted confidante and best friend. Hughes trusted no one like he trusted Bautzer.
Even as Hughes sank deeper into eccentric behavior, Bautzer was loyal to the end.
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Interestingly he was still an outstanding laywer even though he was out of control with the sauce
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Johnson and Johnson LLP
Neville Johnson
[on his website and in the Los Angeles Lawyer September 2013 issue]
GREGSON BAUTZER, the legendary entertainment attorney and superb legal strategist, is the deserving subject of a new biography. During his heyday from the 1940s through the 1980s, Bautzer built and maintained a stellar law practice that set the standard for entertainment law. Bautzer also commanded an impressive client list in the business arena. Howard Hughes, Kirk Kerkorian, Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers, Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, and many more sought Bautzer as their legal representative.
While business biographies are often dreary and tedious, and few people really care about the legal squabbles of yesteryear, this book is engaging because it concerns Bautzer who was a rambunctious, dashing, dapper, and charming rake as well as a brilliant attorney, and a bad boy who was attractive to women. Bautzer could and did seduce them, including many clients. Bautzer's romances provide interesting gossip because they are intertwined with legal cases involving names that are still widely remembered.
The attorney had style, which he assiduously perfected. For example, he borrowed $5,000 (in 1936, enough to buy a house) to spend on clothing and meals at top restaurants where he could be seen, woo potential clients, and promote himself. The undergraduate debate champion and law school graduate from USC aggressively charmed and pursued Hollywood. His career is a handbook on how to grow a practice. Bautzer marketed himself tirelessly, all the while having a good time oiling, maintaining, and testing the star-making machinery of the motion picture industry. He solved problems for talent and studios alike.
He was not without his faults. His alcoholism got him into much trouble because he was belligerent when soused. For example, Bautzer once challenged Humphrey Bogart to fisticuffs. Bogart deftly dealt with the drunk Bautzer by suggesting that he step out side first as the star would be noticed if he preceded him, then Bogart did not follow. Instead, he had a laugh with Bautzer after the latter returned, and the two became friends. Bautzer's addiction to alcohol, however, had no apparent effect on the quality or amount of his work until the final years of his life, but by then he was winding down his practice.
Although Bautzer's labors as an attorney involved much more than an office and a desk, many other great Hollywood attorneys worked behind the scenes at Bautzer's firm. Students of the legal history of Southern California will recognize the names of his proteges, including Patricia Glaser, Terry Christiansen, Louis “Skip” Miller, and Ernest Del. A theme in Gladstone's biography is how Bautzer cultivated power. He socialized with Hollywood' top dogs in entertainment, business, and politics. His friends—often poker buddies—ran the studios. No one since has maintained a more impressive client list, and certainly not for four decades. One example of his clout concerns a producer who could not get 5,000 troops for a movie. Bautzcr got the troops, probably with the help of his good friend, Secretary of State Alexander Haig.
Howard Hughes relied heavily upon Bautzer, who helped Hughes take over Las Vegas. Bautzer's services to Hughes went beyond law to include serving as paymaster to Hughes's many girlfriends, who were often aspiring actresses. (Hughes owned RKO Pictures.) Bautzer also dealt with issues relating to the Spruce Goose airplane, until Bautzer resigned after refusing to cross an ethical line as Hughes wished. Reclusive Kirk Kerkorian heard of the famous lawyer who represented Howard Hughes, however, and Bautzer helped Kerkorian grow his business and acquire MGM more than once. As was typical for Bautzer, he was also good friends with his client, and they palled around Europe on Kerkorian's DC-9. Bautzer married his fourth wife in the air on that jet, presided over by Judge Mariana Phaelzer, his former law partner.
Gladstone, the author of this biography, is an entertainment attorney at Lionsgate Entertainment. He must be lauded for not only mining the usual sources (books, newspaper articles, and lawsuits of public record) but also obtaining the cooperation of people who knew Bautzer. Many were willing to waive attorney-client privilege to provide a complete story. Gladstone gained the confidences of Bautzer's third wife (former actress Dana Wynter), son, former secretary, and many former clients and colleagues.
Bautzer emerges as a loyal friend with a big heart and a ladies' man still admired by his former wives and lovers. Bautzer was also a ruggedly handsome athlete who won tennis tournaments, a tremendous lawyer, and, when he needed to be, a righteous professional capable of staring down not only the mobster Bugsy Siegel, who threatened him over a Las Vegas matter, but also Joan Crawford, Hollywood is poorer without Greg Bautzer.
Neville L. Johnson is a founding partner of entertainment law firm Johnson & Johnson LLP in Beverly Hills and the author of The John Wooden Pyramid of Success.
