Michael Schlesinger was born on September 4 1950 in Dayton, Ohio. He began his career in Dayton before getting a job at a film-booking agency in Cincinnati. He moved to Los Angeles in 1981. He worked for years at Paramount, where he would be the head of Paramount Repertory. It was in this capacity he would have a major role in the release of It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles in 1993, a documentary on Orson Welles's uncompleted film It's All True, which was shot in 1941 and 1942. According to Michael Schlesinger, after Paramount's executives saw the film they sent to security to his office to escort him off the lot.
After his time with Paramount, Michael Schlesinger went to work for Sony as a vice president in charge of their repertory. He served in that capacity for twelve years, after which he was an executive consultant for Sony.
Michael Schlesinger also wrote, produced, and directed the series of "Biffle and Shooster" shorts, which sought to capture the feel of the old comedy shorts of the Thirties using the fictional comedy team of Biffle and Shooster (the characters wee created and played by actors Nick Santa Maria and Will Ryan). He also produced director Larry Blamire's films Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007), The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (2009), and Dark and Stormy Night (2009). He directed and also wrote the feature film Rock and Doris (try to) Write a Movie (2024).
Michael Schlesinger was very much a part of the classic movie scene in Los Angeles. He assisted with the classic film festival Cinecon in Los Angeles. He was a fixture at the TCM Classic Film Festival, where he introduced movies. He also frequented many other classic film festivals.
I didn't know Michael Schlesinger, although he was a friend to many of my friends. According to those who knew him, he was very funny and known for his generosity. He was also known for his love of classic movies, and he would often take risks to preserve and distribute classic movies even when the studios for which he worked might undervalue those films. He certainly knew a great deal about classic movies, as anyone who has seen his one of his introductions for movies from the TCM Classic Film Festival or another film film festival can testify. My condolences go to Michael Schlesinger's friends and family.
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