The Man Who Seduced Hollywood

Open any movie magazine from the 1930s, 40s, or 50s and youll find a picture of attorney Greg Bautzer with a beautiful starlet. Columnists dubbed him Hollywood Bachelor Number One, and for good reason. His long-term relationships and momentary conquests were a whos who of leading ladies, including Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Jane Wyman, Dorothy Lamour, Ann Sothern, Greer Garson, Merle Oberon, and Peggy Lee, to name just a few. Yet Bautzer was more than a Hollywood Don Juan. As a lawyer, he represented nearly every major star of his era, as well as the richest man in the world, Howard Hughes, for whom he served as adviser, confidant, and best friend. He also handled Hughess shadier deals, including writing checks for a harem of kept women and quashing potentially embarrassing tell-all biographies. In Hollywood history, no other lawyer has achieved the movie starlike fame and glamour that Bautzer enjoyed. The Man Who Seduced Hollywood tells, for the first time, the amazing story of a self-made man who for fifty years used his irresistible charm and prodigious legal talent to dominate the courtrooms, boardrooms, and bedrooms of Hollywood. In addition to new stories about Hughes, this biography contains countless anecdotes about Bautzer's other well-known clients and friends including Joan Crawford, Frank Sinatra, Ingrid Bergman, Rock Hudson, Bugsy Siegel, Robert Evans, Kirk Kerkorian and many more of the twentieth century's biggest stars.