In researching this book, I made many new friends and received the generous assistance of strangers. With much humility, I gratefully acknowledge their contributions.
First is the late Dana Wynter, Bautzer’s third wife and mother of his only child, Mark. Dana had tremendous admiration for her ex-husband’s achievements and believed that he deserved to have his place in history recorded. Even though they were separated in the mid-1960s and divorced in the 1980s, Dana defended her ex-husband’s honor for the rest of her life, sending letters to editors whenever she thought his reputation had been maligned in print. Sadly, she passed away from heart failure in May 2011. Although she was ailing during the last three months of her life, she shared her memories and insights with me on almost a daily basis. For a brief time, we enjoyed an unexpected friendship.
A big thanks is also owed to the late Henry Rogers for donating his papers to Brigham Young University. Rogers, who was cofounder of the world-famous public relations firm Rogers & Cowan, started his own biography of Bautzer shortly after Bautzer’s death but abandoned the project due to research difficulties. Rogers’s memories of conversations with Bautzer and interviews with his contemporaries, some of whom have since passed away, were a godsend. These include: Mark Bautzer, Louis Blau, Dick Dorso, Arthur Groman, Richard S. Harris, Woody Irwin, Kirk Kerkorian, Sidney Korshak, Herbert Maass, Ann Miller, Frank Rosenfelt, Bernard Silbert, Lori Weintraub Ferrer, and Dana Wynter.
Lea Sullivan was Bautzer’s personal secretary from the early 1950s through the mid-1960s. At Dana Wynter’s request, Lea consented to be interviewed for the first time about her beloved boss and his most important client, Howard Hughes. Lea has known many of the most famous celebrities of the twentieth century and is a living witness to history, although she is too modest to brag about it.
Attorney Robert Schwartz gave me the final push to write this biography the day he told me that Bautzer was responsible for starting his father’s career in Hollywood. This book was conceived in Bobby’s office at O’Melveny & Myers.
Jean Parker, Joseph Schenck’s personal assistant and Bautzer’s confidential employee, furnished great insights into the Schenck-Bautzer relationship and the unusual services that Bautzer provided for Hughes. Parker revealed for the first time that she kept the accounting books and wrote the checks that Bautzer signed for Hughes’s harem of kept women.
A legendary Hollywood historian, the late Charles Higham, deserves the credit for uncovering FBI documents revealing Bautzer’s involvement with the suspected Nazi spy Hilde Kruger. He came upon the FBI papers while researching his book Errol Flynn: The Untold Story. Higham shared his knowledge with me over a long lunch at Musso & Franks.
Bautzer’s distant cousin David Stielow contacted Mark Bautzer and Dana Wynter to discuss the Bautzer family tree during the time that Dana was helping me. It was an incredible coincidence. David provided valuable information about Bautzer’s relatives, including a copy of uncle Paul Bautzer’s autopsy report, which revealed the family’s history of alcoholism.
In addition to those mentioned above, the following people were interviewed and made important contributions: Dan Cavalier, Arlene Dahl, Ernest Del, Bernard Erpicum, John Fahey, Fred Kroll, Michael I. Levy, Pia Lindström, Charles McDougal, Louis “Skip” Miller, Andre Morgan, Bob Newhart, Wolfgang Puck, Albert S. Ruddy, Stanton “Larry” Stein, Richard van Treuren, Robert Wagner, Lori Weintraub Ferrer, Andrew White, and Ken Ziffren.
I also wish to express my appreciation to those who helped me locate documents and photographs: Special collection curator James V. D’Arc of Brigham Young University provided access to the papers of Henry Rogers and over the course of four years has become a good friend. Curator Ned Comstock of the University of Southern California allowed me to review Charles Higham’s papers and found several newspaper articles for me about Bautzer. Special collections archivist Octovio Olivera of the University of California Los Angeles found photo negatives of Bautzer in court from the Los Angeles Times Collection. Curator Dace Taube of the University of Southern California uncovered photos of Bautzer’s college years from the Los Angeles Examiner files. Harriet Dallinger, widow of the renowned Hollywood photojournalist Nat Dallinger, and their children Timothy Dallinger and Antionette Dallinger Griffin provided nearly thirty phenomenal photo negatives documenting Bautzer’s life over the course of three decades. Bob Walsh, stepson of Hollywood Brown Derby owner Bob Cobb, and Brown Derby historian Mark Willems, provided several wonderful photographs and photo negatives along with terrific stories over lunch at Chez Jay. William R. Wilkerson III provided an excellent photo of Bautzer with his father, Billy Wilkerson, and insight into their relationship. San Pedro Historical Society Docents Anne Hansford and Al Bitonio helped research information on Bautzer’s parents and his childhood.
In addition, I thank the people who aided and encouraged me. Lions Gate Entertainment general counsel Wayne Levin, the best boss in the world. The late Steve Rothenberg, president of Lions Gate Theatrical Releasing, a good friend and fellow biography fan. Early readers Bob and Tina Gale and Robin Voris, each of whom gave me honest and valuable criticism. Writers Linda Perigo and Mark A. Vieira, who both gave me writing advice. Jeffrey Goldman and Paddy Callistro, who provided publishing advice. My publisher Cynthia Sherry, senior editor Yuval Taylor, and project editor Devon Freeny, each of whom helped make this into a much better book than I could have written on my own. Also, Mary Kravenas at Chicago Review Press and Jen Wisnowski at IPG, who worked so hard on marketing and promotion.
And finally and most important, I thank my wife, Selene, who helped me in more ways than I could possibly list. Without her, this book would not exist.