Sol Lesser

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Sol Lesser (born February 17, 1890 in Spokane, Washington–September 19, 1980 in Hollywood, California) was a film producer and presenter.

In 1915, When 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 ans brothels. He grabbed a camera and a friend (future Hollywood cameraman Hal Mohr) and roamed all over the area, especially the parts that were best-known before the area was shut down. Lesser sold the resulting film Last Night at the Barbary Coast to theaters. With the profits, he bought several theaters, and soon owned a cinema chain.

Throughout his career, he made low-budget Western and Tarzan movies. The Tarzan films were produced for RKO and starred Johnny Weissmuller and later Gordon Scott.

Sol Lesser was the recipient of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960. He has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.