Robert Lees

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Robert Lees

Born July 10, 1912(1912-07-10)
San Francisco, California, United States
Died June 13, 2004 (aged 91)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Other name(s) J.E. Selby
Jay Selby
Years active 1931-1968
Spouse(s) Jean Abel (?-1982)

Robert Lees (July 10, 1912 – June 13, 2004) was a television and film screenwriter. Lees was best known for writing comedy, including several Abbott and Costello films.

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[edit] Life and career

Born in San Francisco, California, Lees started in show business as a dancer before becoming a writer for MGM Studios, where he was paired with writer Frederic Rinaldo. Their first screenplay was for the 1936 short film, The Perfect Set-Up. The short film was the first in the "Crime Does Not Pay" series. The series, which was produced by MGM in the 1930s and 1940s, were based on real life crime cases. Lees and Rinaldo continued to work on comedy shorts including, A Night At The Movies, starring Robert Benchley and Penny Wisdom. The duo also worked on the 1937 films, Decathlon Champions and Candid Cameramaniacs from the Pete Smith Specialty series. In 1939, Lees and Rinaldo were nominated for an Academy Award for the 1939 biographical short film, Prophet Without Honor.[1]

After completing the comedy short An Hour For Lunch, in 1939, Lees and Rinaldo moved on to feature length films with the 1940 drama, Street Of Memories. The pair worked on the sci-fi/horror films, The Invisible Woman and The Black Cat. In 1941, they wrote their first comedy for Abbott and Costello entitled, Hold That Ghost. In the following years, Lees and Rinaldo would go on to write five more movies for the comedy duo, namely, Hit the Ice, Buck Privates Come Home, The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. In 1952, they wrote Jumping Jacks for another comic duo, Martin and Lewis.[1]

In the early 1950s, Lees' career was virtually destroyed when he was put on the Hollywood blacklist by movie studio bosses during the McCarthy Era for alleged Communist activities. As a result of his blacklisting, he had associates submit manuscripts to the studios under the pseudonym "J. E. Selby." Lees also wrote pseudonymously for the British television series, The Adventures of Robin Hood during the blacklist.[2]

[edit] Murder

On June 13, 2004, sometime around 11 a.m., Keven Lee Graff, a 27 year old homeless man, broke into Lees' home. Graff attacked the 91-year-old Lees and decapitated him. Graff then left the home, carrying Lees' severed head, and broke into a neighboring house. The occupant of the home was 69-year-old retired doctor, Morley Engleson. Graff then attacked and killed Engleson, who was on the telephone making a plane reservation. The Southwest Airlines ticketing agent heard the attack and phoned police.[3]Before police could arrive, Graff stole Engleson's 2001 Mercedes-Benz and left the scene.

Officers arrived at Engleson's home and found his body by his front door. He had been stabbed and left with a fireplace poker lodged in his throat.[4]During a search through Engleson's house, police discovered Lees' severed head lying on a bed. Lees' longtime girlfriend, Helen Colton, discovered Lees' headless body, covered by blankets, in his bedroom some five hours later when she arrived to pick Lees up for an event at the academy headquarters in Beverly Hills.[5]

The following day, Keven Lee Graff caught the attention of security guards at the gates of Paramount Pictures when he began behaving erratically; talking to himself and yelling at passing cars.[6] One security guard identified Graff from a picture that was shown on a televised news conference about the double murders, and phoned police.[7] Graff was arrested outside the studio gates, only two miles from the crime scenes.

After his arrest, details about Graff's troubled life emerged. A former United States Marine, Graff was a mainstay in the San Diego gay bar scene where he worked as an exotic dancer and gay escort from 1997 to 2002.[6] In June 2003, Graff was committed to a mental facility in Orange County, California, but was released soon after. Graff's family made attempts to put him under psychiatric care, but he resisted and fled to Hollywood. While in Hollywood, he drifted between apartments and spent time on the streets, eventually living out of his car.[6]

When questioned about the crimes, Graff claimed that a man on the streets of Hollywood gave him methamphetamine and Ecstasy the night before the murders. Graff named no motive in the double homicide, and claimed that he had no memory of committing the murders.[6]

In February 2008, Graff, under a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to ten felonies for the murders of Lee and Engelson. Under the plea agreement, Graff will receive two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.[8]

[edit] Trivia

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[edit] Filmography

[edit] Writer

[edit] Actor

  • The Sin of Madelon Claudet aka The Lullaby (Uncredited, 1931)
  • Grand Hotel (Uncredited, 1932)
  • Rasputin and the Empress aka Rasputin the Mad Monk (Uncredited, 1932)
  • Dancing Lady (Uncredited, 1933)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b In Remembrance- Robert Lees
  2. ^ Matthews, Tom Dewe. "The outlaws" (free registration required), The Guardian, 2006-10-07. Retrieved on 2006-10-11. 
  3. ^ UFO ROUNDUP Volume 9 Number 25
  4. ^ The Insane Death of Robert Lees
  5. ^ Blacklisted Screenwriter Murdered, Neighbor Stabbed To Death, Too; Homeless Man Charged - CBS News
  6. ^ a b c d GLT » Former San Diego go-go boy arrested for murder
  7. ^ http://besonline.rtm.net.my/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=16791
  8. ^ Blankstein, Andrew; Hsu, Tiffany. "Man admits to beheading Hollywood screenwriter, killing doctor in 2004", Reality TV World, 2008-02-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-29. 

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Lees, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Selby, J.E.; Selby, Jay
SHORT DESCRIPTION Screenwriter, actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 2004
PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California, United States
Languages