The MGM Lion With 9 Lives; Jackie

November 22, 2016

The MGM Lion With 9 Lives; Jackie

Who doesn't recognize the MGM Lion? I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't. He is a legend. What many people don't know is...there is a ton of history behind the MGM Lion. Especially one lion in particular, Jackie, a.k.a "Leo the Lucky"

The logo was first designed for Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, in 1916. The lion was chosen by Howard Deitz, a Publicity Executive. The lion was his way of paying tribute to his alma mater, Columbia University. Their Mascot was a Lion. The inspiration was the school's fight song "Roar, Lion, Roar." At the top of the banner, just above the lion is the motto "Ars Gratia Artis," which is Latin, meaning "Art for Art's Sake."

Now, while Jackie wasn't the first MGM, he was the first lion to make his voice heard. "Slats" was the first lion used on Goldwyn Pictures logo from 1917 until 1928, first appearing on the 1917 release "Polly of the Circus." After the 1924 merger that created MGM, The company took on a new technology called the gramaphone, bringing SOUND to their newest productions! It's here that Jackie got his start. Sound was born on the MGM production scene and Jackie would have been the first thing you heard, along with the music that accompanied him. I imagine this must have very exciting to movie goers of the 1920's.

Jackie came from a long line of animal actors. His mama Stubby, and grandma, Mamie were both well known Lions. His mother was part of a popular traveling show and his grandmother was on the first animals to ever appear in US films. Jackie went on to star in over 100 movies.

Jackie rubbed elbows with the biggest stars Hollywood had to offer.

There was no doubt that Jackie was living every big cats dream, and there is no doubt that he lived up to the old saying that cats have 7 lives. I'm about to tell you about 6 he used up like you'd except the King of the concrete jungle to do:

He survived two train wrecks.
He survived a flood.
He survived an earthquake.
He survived a boat sinking.
He survived an explosion at the studio.
AND he survived a plane crash!

This earned him the moniker, "Leo the Lucky". You'd think with the magic of the Internet there would be more information out there than a list, but nope. I cannot find information on any of these, except the last incident that made Leo the most lucky Lion on the planet.

September 16th 1927, a plane took off heading from San Diego to New York. On that plane was Stunt Pilot Martin Jensen and Jackie the lion. A nonstop flight was planned promoting MGM movies, seeking national attention to the studio's trademark, Leo the Lion. And boy did they get what they asked for, and them some.

The 350 lb lion and Jensen took off in the B-1 Ryan Brougham airplane, which was built to duplicate Charles Lindbergh's famous plane, except that the plane had a large cage to house Jackie, and large, black lettering the plane which could be easily read from the ground, saying "MGM LION."

According to Payson Roundup, "On Sept. 16 film crews recorded the take off from an airstrip outside San Diego. Original plans to take off from the studio in Culver City had been blocked by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The plane was overloaded with 3,200 pounds of gasoline and had been modified to accommodate Leo and his 400-pound cage. A lever released milk and water from an overhead tank into the animal's cage to pacify his objections to the bumpy ride. Pilot Jensen had secretly equipped himself with a pistol should Leo break out.

It was noon when they crossed the Colorado River, and even though the hot, desert air currents caused the plane to jerk about, Leo snored peacefully. The route took Jensen over the north end of Phoenix, but upon approaching the Mazatzal Mountains the plane did not want to rise over the top.

The pilot snaked his way through a canyon, and into Tonto Basin.
Suddenly his heart was in his throat. Before him loomed the black ramparts of the Mogollon Rim, and he feared the 220-horsepower Wright Whirlwind engine was not going to make it.

Jensen opened to full throttle, but the light air could not sustain the weighted plane. A canyon was closing in, he was boxed in, there was no place to land, and putting the plane into a glide he stalled tail first into a clump of oak trees."

Amazingly, Jensen nor Jackie were hurt too badly, considering. Bumps, bruises, a few shared sandwiches between the two, and three nights later....Jensen found a ranch and was able to get to a phone to call the studio to let them know what had happened. Six days would pass before anyone could get to Jackie. A posse was formed, and by the time they got to him, he was emaciated, immobile and full of wounds from screwworms. But after some water and some food, he perked up and began to move around. To make a long story short - Jackie made it out alive! (read the entire story here)

For all that he had been through some people said that Jackie wasn't much of a looker. Some called him "the ugliest cat you had ever seen.", but also was known for having the heart of gold. He got along well with other felines and even offered shelter to an alley cat and her kittens who had crawled into Jackie's cage seeking shelter, When his trainer Melvin Koontz found them later, the kittens were dripping wet from Jackie licking them clean.

Despite his adventurous life, Jackie did go on to have a long life by Lion;s standards. He lived to be 23, and died from natural causes in 1935.

There are rumors that Jackie's body wound up in the hands of a Los Angeles taxidermist, who preserved his skin and then sold it to McPherson Museum in McPherson, Kansas. But, other's say that he was buried on his trainer, Volney Phifer's animal farm in Gillette, NJ. I'm honestly sure if it's one, or the other, or even possibly both. Perhaps his body was buried after his skin was taken.

**But, according to Roadside America, the attraction at McPherson Museum was removed after "A few years ago there an attempt to get some DNA off of the lion rug in McPherson. I have yet to see any feedback on that. But the information above would lead any rational person to conclude that the skin in McPherson is NOT from the original Leo the Lion, which people saw buried in Gillette, New Jersey."

In 1928, MGM first recorded Leo the Lion (whose real name was Jackie) roaring for its official opening logo. Leo’s roar was first heard by the public the night White Shadows in the South Seas premiered in New York.

1920's: Mel Koontz with a very young Jackie the lion

Mel training Jackie to react to a pistol shooting blanks

Jackie cheesin it up for the cameras

Mel and Jackie share a moment.

Life long friends

Director Bill Watson with MGM Leo (Jackie) in 1928

Animal trainer Melvin Koontz gets a big hug from Jackie the lion

Jackie being transported after his ill-fated flight.

Mel Koontz shampooing Jackie, the lion.

Daring Anne Francis with MGM's Leo the Lion (Jackie)

Helen Gilbert, Jackie the Lion and Richard Denning - 1942

Original caption in 1933: What! No Lion-Aise Potatoes. "Jackie", a very well-mannered lion, has a weakness for ice cream, so when he and Buster Crabbe were finished with a scene in Paramount's King of the Jungle, they strolled over to the caf? and had a sundae. This is the luncheon scene--and please notice Jackie's irreproachable table manners.