Whitley Heights 101

6619 Odin Street

6619 Odin Street was built in 1922 by Vineyard Lumber & Investment Company as a six room Spanish style bungalow that sat on lot 33 on the Lockland Place Tract. Below: 6619 Odin Street was situated below both Fairfield Avenue and Wedgewood Place in Whitley Heights during the era that the French Village sat on the corner of Highland Avenue and Cahuenga Blvd. During it’s lifetime in Whitley Heights, two notable tenants lived in the home.

Attorney Gunter R. Lessing (pictured below) rented the bungalow in 1927 with his wife, Lula, and seven year old son when they first moved to Hollywood from Waco, Texas. Lessing was a prominent lawyer in Texas who presented the famed Mexican general Francisco “Pancho” Villa. In January 1914, Lessing began working with the Mutual Film Corporation, which had just signed D. W. Griffith to produce “Birth of a Nation”. Lessing brokered an exclusive $25,000 film contract between the movie studio and the outlaw.

Lessing’s notoriety as a successful attorney who had knowledge of the Mexican law earned him lucrative client’s such as actress Agnes Ayres (The Sheik) who hired him to settle a paycheck dispute with Cecile DeMille and then obtain a Mexican divorce from her husband, screenwriter Manuel Reachi in 1927. A year later, he was assisting 38 year old director Edwin Carewe obtain a Mexican divorce from actress Mary Atkin, who was 17 years old and now a mother of two. The divorce was granted, but the couple remarried less than a year later. Actress Dolores del Rio hired Lessing to help her with obtaining US Citizenship from Mexico. For a time, Lessing and del Rio had a good working relationship. She, Lessing, and their spouses attended Hollywood parties together. Around this time, Lessing first met and became employed with Walt Disney, a young cartoon producer who just lost the rights of his previous creations to Charles Mintz. It was Lessing who helped Walt protect the copyright of Mickey Mouse so he would not loose any other of his characters.

Lessing handled Dolores del Rio’s divorce to her husband, Jaime del Rio, in 1928. However, the financially set Dolores had a large financial setback when her ex-husband died of surgery complications a year later. del Rio violated Lessings four year contract and paid him for services rendered. Lessing sued her anyway, for “lack of gratitude and appreciation,” and the $31,000 balance of their contract. An enraged del Rio, who was still friends with Lessings’s wife, Lula, knew she was unhappy with the marriage. Lula accused her husband of turning her 10-year-old son against her and cited physical abuse. She claimed that when losing bridge games at parties, he would throw water in her face or drag her around by her ear. In July 1930, Lessing sued del Rio for encouraging his wife to divorce him. However, during the divorce, it was del Rio (pictured below) who financially supported Lessings wife and son.

Lessing headed Disney’s legal department for many years before the was promoted him to vice president and general counsel of Walt Disney Productions. At the Disney studio, known for its laid back atmosphere where everyone was addressed by their first name, it was Gunther Lessing who Walt referred to when he said, “The only Mister we have at the studio is our lawyer, Mr. Lessing.” Lessing retired from Walt Disney Studios after 35 years in 1964 and passed away a year later.

Screenwriter Marian Ainslee rented 6619 Odin Street in 1940. Born in Marceline, Missouri, Ainslee’s first job out of school was as a newspaper reporter in Jefferson City where she interviewed politicians. Discouraged the low pay, she decided to move to Hollywood and give screenwriting a try. After getting her start as a script clerk, Ainslee became one of MGM’s top title writers during the 1920s and early 1930s, working closely to producer Irving Thalberg. Ainslee worked on a script with director Erick von Stroheim in “Foolish Wives” in 1922. Below is Ainslee and von Stroheim on the set of the film.

Ainslee worked on many prominent silent films of the time including; He Who Gets Slapped (1924) Lon Chaney & Norma Shearer, The Merry Widow (1925) John Gilbert & Mae Murray, Tower of Lies (1925) Norma Shearer, The Masked Bride (1925) Mae Murray & Frances X Bushman, The Temptress (1926) Greta Garbo, Flesh & the Devil (1926) John Gilbert & Greta Garbo, Annie Laurie (1927) Lillian Gish, and The Mysterious Lady (1928) Greta Garbo. After Thalberg’s sudden death in 1936, Ainselee took an extended vacation from writing. However, in 1938, she signed with RKO and wrote “Carefree” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is estimated that she titled as many as 200 films during her time in the film business.

As for the house located at 6619 Odin Street, someone bought it in 1950 and relocated it to Boyle Heights. It currently stands at the corner of East Second Street and South St. Louis Street with little exterior changes to the property. However, the house is now listed with 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Another Whitley Heights property saved.