Si Seadler and friends

Raymond Rohauer (1924, Buffalo, New York – November 10, 1987) was an American film collector and distributor. Early life and career Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel 16mm experimental film Whirlpool (1947) which was not successful. He subsequently became active in film exhibition at the Coronet Theatre from 1950, which was, according to William K. Everson, a "bizarre combination of art house, film society and exploitation cinema". in 1954, Rohauer met Buster Keaton and his wife, Eleanor; the couple would develop a business partnership with him to re-release Keaton's films. The Coronet Theatre art house in Los Angeles, with which Rohauer was involved, was showing The General which "Buster hadn't seen ... in years and he wanted me to see it," Eleanor Keaton said in 1987. "Raymond recognized Buster and their friendship started." Rohauer in that same article recalls, "I was in the projection room. l got a ring that Buster Keaton was in the lobby. I go down and there he is with Eleanor. The next day I met with him at his home. I didn't realize we were going to join forces. But I realized he had this I-don't-care attitude about his stuff. He said, 'It's valueless. I don't own the rights.'"] Keaton had prints of the features the Three Ages, Sherlock Jr., Steamboat Bill, Jr., College (missing one reel) and the shorts "The Boat" and "My Wife's Relations", which Keaton and Rohauer had transferred to safety stock from deteriorating nitrate film stock. Other prints of Keaton's films had been found in the home of the actor James Mason who had bought the property from Keaton, and passed them on to Rohauer. Rohauer was known for claiming rights to films under dubious pretexts and pursued court battles over The Birth of a Nation, eventually found to be in the public domain, and other classics. Often he would re-edit films in order to be able to claim copyright on them and charge a licensing fee. Later career] During the 1960s, Rohauer returned to America's East Coast and became the film curator of the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art in New York City, although the gallery's existence was relatively brief. In some cases he acquired the rights to stories from the estates of deceased writers, so gaining a hold over The Sheik (1921), produced by Paramount and starring Rudolph Valentino. Alternatively he found instances where living writers no longer held the rights to their work, an example being the J.B. Priestley novel Benighted, which was the basis for The Old Dark House (1932), James Whale's Universal horror film that had been thought lost. According to William K. Everson, he would claim to overseas contacts that he had won libel suits which he had, in fact, lost or accept bookings for silent films that no longer existed. Rohauer was involved in the preservation of out-takes from the films of Charlie Chaplin which were saved after the filmmaker was forced to leave the United States in 1952. This material formed the basis of the Unknown Chaplin series in 1983. Such was Rohauer's reputation in this field that Kevin Brownlow, the co-producer of this series and the earlier Hollywood (1980), had not previously allowed his production staff to use Rohauer's resources. Brownlow considered him a "pirate", while William K. Everson preferred "freebooter" as it implies the "certain cavalier charm that Rohauer possessed". Death and legacy At the time, Rohauer was reported to have died at the St. Luke's–Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan, New York City from complications following a heart attack on November 10, 1987. The 700 titles amassed by Rohauer became part of the Cohen Film Collection in 2011. As of 2013 are in the process of being restored for new screenings and release on DVD. NOTE: Raymond Rohauer's life was publicly trashed and in print long after his death by William K. Everson. Yet, as a publicist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with Silas F. Seadler for many years, I can tell you that I was there at the Museum of Modern Art for so many screenings, and I had met so many stars that had been ignored for years. Raymond Rohauer was highly respected by stars, directors, publicists, film moguls and film buffs.

Huntington Hartford Born George Huntington Hartford II April 18, 1911 New York City, U.S. Died May 19, 2008 (aged 97) Lyford Cay, Bahamas Resting place Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleums Education St. Paul's School Alma mater Harvard University Occupation Heir to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company fortune, philanthropist and businessman Spouse(s) Mary Lee Epling (m. 1931; div. 1939) Marjorie Steele (m. 1949; div. 1960) Diane Brown (m. 1962; div. 1970) Elaine Kay (m. 1975; div. 1981) Children 4 Parent(s) Edward V. Hartford and Henrietta Guerard Pollitzer Relatives George Huntington Hartford (grandfather) George Ludlum Hartford (uncle) John Augustine Hartford (uncle) George Huntington Hartford II (April 18, 1911 – May 19, 2008) was an American businessman, philanthropist, stage and film producer, and art collector. He was also heir to the A&P supermarket fortune. After his father's death in 1922, Hartford became one of the heirs to the estate left by his grandfather and namesake, George Huntington Hartford. After graduating from Harvard University in 1934, he only briefly worked for A&P. For the rest of his life, Hartford focused on numerous other business and charitable enterprises. He owned Paradise Island[3] in the Bahamas, and had numerous other business and real estate interests over his lifetime including the Oil Shale Corporation (TOSCO), which he founded in 1955. Hartford was once known as one of the world's richest people. His final years were spent living in the Bahamas with his daughter, Juliet. Early life and education Huntington Hartford was born in New York City, the son of Henrietta Guerard (Pollitzer) and Edward V. Hartford (1870–1922). He was named George Huntington Hartford II for his grandfather, George Huntington Hartford. His father and uncles, John Augustine Hartford and George Ludlum Hartford, privately owned the A&P Supermarket, which at one point had 16,000 stores in the U.S. and was the largest retail empire in the world. In the 1950s A&P was the world's largest grocer and, next to General Motors, it sold more goods than any other company in the world. Time magazine reported that A&P had sales of $2.7 billion in 1950. His maternal grandfather was from an Austrian Jewish family, and his maternal grandmother, who was Protestant, had deep roots in South Carolina. Hartford's father was a successful inventor and manufacturer who perfected the automotive shock absorber. Along with his brothers, Edward was also an heir to the A&P fortune and served as A&P's corporate secretary as well as one of three trustees that controlled A&P's stock. After Hartford's birth, the family moved to Deal, New Jersey, a wealthy community on the Atlantic shore. After Huntington's father died when he was 11, his mother moved the family to a mansion in Newport, Rhode Island known as "Seaverge" next to Rough Point, the mansion owned by tobacco heiress Doris Duke. The family also lived on a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) plantation in South Carolina called "Wando" as well as an apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. After his father died in 1922, Hartford's mother sent him to St. Paul's School. He later majored in English literature at Harvard University. After his graduation from Harvard in 1934, he went to work at A&P headquarters in New York in the statistical department. He lived on a trust fund that generated about $1.5 million per year. On 10 November 1936, he purchased from Alan Villiers the sailing ship Joseph Conrad which he converted to a private yacht, and donated to the U.S. Maritime Commission as a sail training ship in 1939. Career In 1940, Hartford invested $100,000 to help start a newspaper, PM, with Marshall Field III and worked as a reporter for the publication. An avid sailor, he donated his yacht to the Coast Guard at the start of World War II. During the war he was commissioned in the Coast Guard and commanded the Army supply ship FS-179, commissioned in May 1944, in the Pacific Theater. Hartford twice accidentally ran the ship aground. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and attempted to purchase Republic Pictures and RKO Studios from Howard Hughes. Huntington also started a modeling agency and an artists' colony, and opened a theater. In the 1950s, Hartford purchased a penthouse duplex on the 13th and 14th floors of One Beekman Place in the 1950s after moving from an apartment at the River House in New York City. He owned a home called "Pompano" on 240 El Vedado Drive in Palm Beach, a 150-acre (0.61 km2) estate in Mahwah, New Jersey called "Melody Farm", a 160-acre (0.65 km2) Hollywood estate known as "The Pines" (also known as Runyon Canyon Park), a townhouse in London, a home in Juan-les-Pins France and a house on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Hartford owned Huntington Hartford Productions which produced several films including the Abbott and Costello film, Africa Screams, in 1949. In 1950, Hartford produced Hello Out There, the last film of James Whale, the acclaimed director of the 1931 version of Frankenstein. He produced several films starring Marjorie Steele and encouraged her to become an artist. In 1955, Hartford founded the Oil Shale Corporation, later known as Tosco, and was its majority shareholder and chairman. Tosco was later acquired by ConocoPhillips. He also set up the Denver Research Institute at the University of Denver to find alternate methods of oil extraction. During this period, he also wrote and produced The Master of Thornfield, a stage adaptation of Jane Eyre that ran for two weeks in Cincinnati starring Errol Flynn as Mr. Rochester. This partnership led to Flynn staying in Hartford's pool-house briefly in 1957–58 and is the origin of a legend that "The Pines" was Flynn's estate. Later, Hartford produced the play on Broadway. In 1964, Hartford offered The Pines as a gift to the city but was turned down by Mayor Sam Yorty. As Lloyd Wright recalled in 1977, "Here was this very wealthy man, and he wanted to give something very stunning to Hollywood. The Chambers of Commerce, the hotel owners and the various businesses were jealous of the park and with the help of the city officials, the city refused to give us permits. Hunt was so angry that he wanted to get out immediately and sold the property to [Jules] Berman who destroyed the mansion and let the place run down." When his uncle George Ludlum Hartford died in 1957, the trust set up by the elder George Huntington Hartford was liquidated and Hartford inherited his portion of the estate. The Chicago Tribune estimated his wealth in 1969 as half a billion dollars.In 1959, Mike Wallace introduced him on television interview as being worth half a billion dollars. 14th-century French cloisters reassembled by Hartford on Paradise Island In 1959, Hartford bought Hog Island in the Bahamas, renaming it Paradise Island. He developed it over the next three years hoping to turn it into another Monte Carlo. One feature of his Ocean Club was a cloister built from the disassembled stones of a monastery that William Randolph Hearst had stored in a Florida warehouse. In an interview with David Frost on British television, Hartford stated that the flag he created for Paradise Island was in the shape of a "P" and that he wanted to put it on the moon as a symbol of peace for the world. Hartford was responsible for getting the gambling license for Paradise Island by hiring Sir Stafford Sands, a Bahamian lawyer. In 1969, Hartford produced the Broadway show Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, which opened at the Belasco Theater starring the then-unknown actor Al Pacino. Pacino won a Tony for his performance.

Amanda S. Stevenson was born on October 24, 1943 at Brooklyn NY to Grace G. Karlsen and Haakon Svendsen, and has siblings John Richard Svendsen, Sandra Amanda (Svendsen) Moseley, and Stewart Haakon Svendsen. Amanda's partner was James Grinnell Blanchard. Amanda's partner was James Willett Moseley, and they had a child Elizabeth Barber Moseley. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Amanda S. Stevenson.

Silas Frank Seadler was the head of advertising for Metro-Goldwin-Mayer for fifty years. He was endlessly cheerful and had a great sense of humor. Si was well known for being a fabulous dancer and movie stars loved to dance with him. At Judy Garland's party at El Morocco after her opening at the Palace on Broadway, she danced with Si Seadler. I was there. In his old age, he became the head of Special Projects for M.G.M. and I helped him publicize movies and have a scrapbook filled with my ideas that came to fruition. He was more fun to be with than anyone else in my life.

Bert Lahr was an American actor, comedian, and vaudevillian, best known for his portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in the classic film, "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Born Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, in New York City, Lahr began his career in show business as a vaudeville performer. He quickly rose to fame for his eccentric and comedic performances, earning him the nickname "The Funniest Man in the World." Lahr made his Broadway debut in 1927 in the musical "Harry Delmar's Revels," which led to a successful career in theater. He went on to appear in several Broadway productions, including "The Show is On" (1936) and "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1939). Lahr's film career began in the early 1930s with small roles in films like "Flying High" (1931) and "Merry-Go-Round" (1932), but it was his role as the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz" that made him a household name. Throughout his career, Lahr appeared in more than 50 films and several television shows, including "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." He was known for his unique comedic style, which often involved physical humor and witty one-liners. Lahr passed away on December 4, 1967, at the age of 72, but his legacy as one of the greatest comedians of all time lives on today.