About

History:

Home of J. Duncan Gleason (born 1881), illustrator. (Source: Who’s Who in Los Angeles County, 1942-43.) Mr. Gleason was an author and artist of maritime subjects. Designed mural in San Pedro Maritime Museum.

Mrs. Duncan Gleason, a 1941 director of LFIA, resident, was a member of the Los Feliz Woman’s Club from 1940-41. (Source: Los Feliz Woman’s Club rosters).

Mr. Duncan Gleason, a renowned athlete, yachtsman, and painter, died in 1959.

A fellowship in his memory was created by the American Artists of the West in 1968 (Source: LA Times).

Joe Duncan Gleason was already a successful artist specializing in marine subjects when he purchased a Spanish style house in 1925 at 2411 North Edgemont in the Los Feliz Hills of Hollywood. When the Depression hit, Joe Duncan Gleason found his work as a set artist in demand with the two biggest studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Warner Brothers. In addition, Gleason’s remarkable athletic abilities and strength merited him jobs in the movies as a stuntman, and because of his slim stature, he occasionally doubled for actresses in perilous situations. Gleason’s reputation as an esteemed marine artist warranted a solo exhibition for his paintings of ships and the sea at the Stendhall Art Gallery located in the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena. The exhibition ran in conjunction with the 1934 Pasadena Tournament of Roses whose theme that year was “Tales of the Seven Seas.” Gleason worked on at least a dozen major movies with some of the biggest film stars of the day. His first production was with Cecil B. De Mille in the making of Yankee Clipper (1927) starring William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy); and with Warner Bros. his first film project was Captain Blood (1935) starring the dashing Errol Flynn. Gleason and Flynn worked together again on other movies, including Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Dodge City (1939).

The ‘40s and ‘50s during World War II Gleason worked for the war effort by serving in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and in the Coast Guard Reserve. In 1943 he received recognition for contributing 1,000 hours of volunteer service. In 1944 Gleason was appointed vice-commander of the Auxiliary, and in that same year his painting of the clipper ship, Coriolanus, was presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a gift from Gleason’s good friend, Donald Douglas (Douglas Aircraft Company). The painting hung on board Air Force One during Roosevelt’s presidency and is now at the Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York (www.americanlegacyfinearts.com; 2016)

Joe Duncan Gleason was an LFIA Director between 1929 and 1941. (Donald Seligman)

1930 census:
2411 North Edgemont Street (Value: $25,000): 1) Joseph D. Gleason, owner and head of household; 49 year old white married male; married at age 38; born in California; father born in California, mother in Iowa; an artist in painting. 2) Dorothy M. Gleason, wife; 36 year old white married female; born in California; parents born in English Canada; a piano teacher. 3) Eleanor J. Gleason, daughter; 10 year old white female; in school; born in California. 4) Lillian J. Gleason, daughter; 2 year 11 month old white female; born in California.

1940 Census:
2411 Edgemont Street (Value $12,000): 1) Joe Duncan Gleason, head of household; white married male 57 years of age; born in California; an artist in motion pictures, earns $2,900. 2) Dorothy Gleason, wife; white married female 45 years of age; born in California; not working. 3) Eleanor Gleason, daughter; white single female 20 years of age; born in California; in school. 4) Lillian Gleason, daughter; white single female 12 years of age; born in California; in school.