Sol Lesser

Sol Lesser (17 February 1890, Spokane, Washington – 19 September 1980, Hollywood, California) was an American film producer and presenter. In 1915, while living in San Francisco, Lesser learned that the authorities were about to clean out the Barbary Coast district, a raucous area of gambling houses, saloons and brothels. He grabbed a camera and a friend, future Hollywood cameraman Hal Mohr, and roamed the area, especially the parts that were bes... more

Sol Lesser (17 February 1890, Spokane, Washington – 19 September 1980, Hollywood, California) was an American film producer and presenter. In 1915, while living in San Francisco, Lesser learned that the authorities were about to clean out the Barbary Coast district, a raucous area of gambling houses, saloons and brothels. He grabbed a camera and a friend, future Hollywood cameraman Hal Mohr, and roamed the area, especially the parts that were best-known before the area was shut down. (The Barbary Coast wasn't actually closed down until 1917.) The resulting film was The Last Night of the Barbary Coast, an early example of an exploitation film that was sold directly to movie theater owners by Lesser. With the profits from the film—now considered to be a lost film -- he bought several theaters, and soon owned a cinema chain. Sol Lesser signed Jackie Coogan to a movie contract in 1922, establishing both as major Hollywood names. The Coogan-Lesser hits included Oliver Twist and Peck's Bad... less