Bautzer's best known romance was with actress Joan Crawford. 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".
A close friend of Crawford's described her attitude: "A man must be a combination of butler and bullfighter. Crawford expected her escort to place her napkin in her lap, light her cigarette, open doors for her."
On June 10, 1956, Bautzer married actress Dana Wynter. They had one son, Mark Ragan Bautzer. The couple divorced in 1981. Bautzer died of heart failure at his Beverly Hills home on October 26, 1987, at the age of 76. He is interred at Westwood Memorial Park.
• Bautzer is the subject of a fascinating new biography, The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer by B. James Gladstone and published by The Chicago Review Press. Youngsters don't get it, but the middle-class Greg was a genuine symbol of his times and also of genuine all-American ambition and know-how-to-get-what-you-want!
Greg Bautzer Profile(Gregson Edward Bautzer)?marries 19-year-old Buffy Cobb Chapmanc. 45divorces Chapman, who will soon start dating Victor Maturec. 45has an intense and much publicized affair with Joan Crawford. Bautzer will be immortalized as "Uncle Greg" in the 1981 biographical film, Mommie Dearest.35 more rows
Chester C. Davis, a New York lawyer who was one of the most influential aides of Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire industrialist, died Thursday at his thoroughbred-horse farm in Unadilla, N.Y. Mr.
Alfred Steelem. 1955–1959Phillip Terrym. 1942–1946Franchot Tonem. 1935–1939Douglas Fairbanks Jr.m. 1929–1933Joan Crawford/Spouse
Howard Hughes seated in an automobile. Did billionaire Howard Hughes leave his fortune to delivery driver Melvin Dummar? The strange saga of the "Mormon Will" played out in court after Hughes' death 45 years ago.
Was Howard Hughes a Billionaire? Hughes created a massive fortune that totaled $1.5 billion, which is equivalent to $6.74 billion in today's dollars. In fact, he was the richest person in America from the 1960s to 1980s, unseating oil magnates H.L. Hunt and J.
Although both Davis and Crawford allegedly had reputations for relationships with colleagues, there's no evidence to prove that Davis and Aldrich had any sort of romantic relationship — so, a steamy scene between Davis and Aldrich is based more on rumor than on proven facts.
Crawford left about $2 million in her will. On October 28, 1976, less than a year before her death, she had made a new will. She left a trust fund of $77,500 to each of her adopted twin daughters, $35,000 to her longtime friend and secretary, Betty Barker, and smaller bequests to a few other people.
Joan CrawfordSpouse(s)Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ( m. 1929; div. 1933) Franchot Tone ( m. 1935; div. 1939) Phillip Terry ( m. 1942; div. 1946) Alfred Steele ( m. 1955; died 1959)Children4, including ChristinaRelativesHal LeSueur (brother)Signature7 more rows
He became, early on, a hot commodity, dating stars such as Lana Turner, Dorothy Lamour, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, and most spectacularly, Joan Crawford. Bautzer gradually became more than arm-candy.
Hollywood had a big laugh when Crawford later dissed Marilyn Monroe, saying, “The public likes colorful personalities, but they like to know that underneath it all, the actresses are ladies.”. Joan had convinced herself, despite sleeping with directors, producers and leading men, that she was a “lady.”.
Bautzer gradually became more than arm-candy. He morphed into one of Hollywood’s most powerful lawyers — a mover, a shaker, a deal maker. He advised studios, moguls and the lunatic that was Howard Hughes. (And he and he alone could get Hughes on the phone.)
He had his demons — drink and an unexpectedly bad temper. But it never lasted, and even those subjected to the worst of him, always forgave, because he didn’t hold a grudge. He was always there for a friend or an ex-lover. For instance, when Merle Oberon needed TWA airplane tickets, she called Bautzer.
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino Reina, was a dancer as was his father before him. He emigrated from Spain in 1913. Rita's American mother, Volga Margaret (Hayworth), who was of mostly ...
In addition to being Miss New Orleans in 1931, Dorothy Lamour worked as a Chicago elevator operator; band vocalist for her first husband, band leader Herbie Kaye; and radio performer. In 1936 she donned her soon-to-be-famous sarong for her debut at Paramount, The Jungle Princess (1936), and ...
Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911. Her mother, known as Lelee, went to Independence to have Ginger away from her husband. She had a baby earlier in their marriage and he allowed the doctor to use forceps and the baby died. She was kidnapped ...
Lana Turner had an acting ability that belied the "Sweater Girl" image MGM thrust upon her, and even many of her directors admitted that they knew she was capable of greatness (check out The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)). Unfortunately, her private life sometimes overshadowed her professional ...
The daughter of a noted surgeon, Dana Wynter was born Dagmar Winter in Berlin, Germany, and grew up in England. When she was 16 her father went to Morocco, reportedly to operate on a woman who wouldn't allow anyone else to attend her; he visited friends in Southern Rhodesia, fell in love with it ...
Peggy Lee was Born Norma Dolores Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, on May 26, 1920. At age four her mother died. Peggy's father, a railroad station agent, remarried but later left home, leaving Peggy's care entrusted to a stepmother who physically abused her. Peggy later memorialized this in the ...
Estelle Merle Thompson was born in India on February 19, 1911 of Welsh and Ceylonese (now Sri Lankan) descent. She was educated in that country until the age of 17, when she left for London. She began her career in British films with mostly forgettable roles or bit parts. She appeared in an ...
The story goes that renowned Hollywood lawyer Greg Bautzer set his sights on Hollywood from the moment he earned his law degree, borrowed $5,000 from someone (we know not whom), and used it to purchase a fine wardrobe and to get himself the best table at the Brown Derby for lunch each day. His plan was to become well-known to the movie community, date as many movie stars as he could, gain their trust, and corner the legal market. The Brown Derby was at that time the Hollywood hot-spot. In the evenings he would dine there and invite movie stars to dance with him. He was handsome, a terrific dancer and, by all appearances, very well off. And he had charm.
Hughes employed Bautzer to set up his young starlets with ‘contracts’ and accommodation. They were paid out of a corporate entity named Black Gold Productions. This was a totally separate account from the one that dealt with his established actresses. Black Gold merely gave him the means to enable him to seduce young things by paying their living expenses and promising them fame and fortune. He would select any girl that took his fancy, no matter where he happened to see her, and then send one of his minions around to offer her a contract and lavish apartment. Singing and dancing lessons were also thrown in. Meanwhile, Hughes would deliberately keep her at arm’s length, promising to visit, but then continually cancelling at the last minute. By the time he was ready to actually meet her she was already on tenterhooks and ready to do just about anything to show her gratitude. He was even known to purchase a dog for a girl he fancied, arrange for it to be kidnapped, then return it personally to the grateful young owner. His tricks of seduction were many and varied. And Bautzer was privy to the arrangement.
‘Tax free?’ was the only question the lady asked. Hughes took fright at this and hastily withdrew the offer. Liz would have declined it anyway, as she was about to wed Nicky Hilton who was filthy rich in his own right. This was just one of scores of tasks Hughes had Greg carry out over the years. It could be argued that Bautzer was probably the only real friend the eccentric billionaire had, even if he was an employee on-call to the billionaire 24/7. Greg’s wife Dana Wynter was anything but happy about this arrangement and told Hughes so, much to his astonishment. He was not used to being chastised or spoken harshly to, but Dana was a no-nonsense kind of woman. It was she, after all, who barred Frank Sinatra from their home. She was appalled that he would bring his mobster friend, Sam Giancana, with him to dinner in her home, yet not even have the courtesy to tell her who he was.
When phony biographer Clifford Irving threatened to publish Hughes’ autobiography, it was Bautzer who arranged for seven journalists who had known Howard for years and could instantly recognize his voice over the phone, to meet in conference. ‘I don’t know him. I never met him’, said Hughes, and that was enough to declare Irving a fraudster and send him to prison. Bautzer was driving in his car in 1976 when he heard over the radio that Hughes had died at the age of 70. Greg had his chauffeur pull over to the side of the road and wept uncontrollably for ten minutes or so. Another eleven years would pass before Bautzer, too, passed on from heart failure at the age of 76. Few Hollywood identities saw more action than he. The timeline below gives a fair indication of his love life:
On the dark side, however, he also had a drinking problem and could be violent when provoked. His drinking and temper could be an explosive combination wherever he happened to be. On at least one occasion Frank Sinatra saved Greg from serious injury (or worse) when he got into an altercation with some Mafia figures in Las Vegas, and Frank managed to spirit him away just in time. Bautzer had no idea who the men were and was too drunk to care anyway. His four-year affair with Joan Crawford regularly degenerated into a knock-down, drag-out fight between the two of them. Whenever they attended a party it was almost expected that they would be throwing things at each other before the evening was over. At a house-party one evening a jealous Crawford poured a glass of red wine over Arlene Dahl when she caught Bautzer flirting with her.
Greg Bautzer wanted to become a major player in Hollywood as soon as he got out of law school. Advertisement. It’s almost like a scene from a movie where he comes up with this plan to invest $5,000 that he borrowed from someone — we don’t know who — and buy himself a fancy wardrobe.
For nearly 50 years Greg Bautzer was one of the premier entertainment attorneys in Hollywood, with a client list that included moguls Howard Hughes, Charles Bluhdorn, Darryl Zanuck and Kirk Kerkorian. He also made a name for himself handling the high-profile divorces of Ingrid Bergman, Nancy Sinatra and Rock Hudson.
Frank Sinatra ends up saving Bautzer’s life when Bautzer almost gets into a fight in a Las Vegas nightclub with gangsters. He didn’t realize they were gangsters, and Frank jumps up from another table in the casino and says, “Greg, we have to go. We are going to be late for a meeting.”.
Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC.
Bautzer, who died in 1987 at 76, is now the subject of a new biography, “The Man Who Seduced Hollywood,” by B. James Gladstone, executive vice president of business and legal affairs for Lionsgate Entertainment. We talked with him about the book.
Bautzer knew and worked with all of the top executives in Hollywood, including Howard Hughes. It seems that he and Hughes were pretty much cut from the same playboy cloth. Advertisement. I came away with a picture of Howard Hughes that is not the common one of him being crazy and obsessive-compulsive.