Los
Angeles County
Biographies
JAMES LESLIE WALLACE
James Leslie Wallace, the
distinguished artist better known as “Les” Wallace, was the gifted art director
of the Press-Telegram of Long Beach for six years prior to his untimely death
in February, 1932. He was born in
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, June 14, 1888, his parents being Dr. Robert R. and
Margaret (Leslie) Wallace, the latter now deceased. Dr. Robert R. Wallace, a native of Scotland,
became a major in the Canadian Army and a well known physician of Ontario. He survived his wife and is still a resident
of Hamilton, Ontario. His family numbered
two sons, James Leslie and Eric, the latter now in England.
“Les” Wallace pursued a high school
course at Highfield, Ontario, where he won
distinction as a track athlete and football star, and next attended Toronto
University, where he studied civil engineering.
Upon leaving that institution he followed engineering for a time, but
the soul of the artist-poet yearned for a broader field of expression, and he
entered the realm of commercial art. For
six years he was on the staff of the Denver Post, part of the time as art
director. His work in that period won
him recognition throughout the country.
Coming to California, Mr. Wallace accepted an executive post with the
Bryan-Brandenburg Company of Los Angeles, and in 1926 came to Long Beach as art
director of the Press-Telegram. The
following is an excerpt from an article which appeared in that paper under date
of February 22, 1932:
“Death stilled the hand of an artist
who was inspired by the soul of a poet when James Leslie Wallace, known to
thousands of Press-Telegram readers as Les Wallace, crossed the Great Horizon
yesterday morning. The end came after an
acute illness of only three days, although for more than two years the artist
had waged a heroic fight against the ravages of a pernicious ailment. He was forty-four years old.
The gifted pen of Les Wallace, art
director of his newspaper, had brought joy to thousands each week with his
sparkling cartoons in which the news of the week was reviewed in pictures of a
lighter vein. The oppression of serious
illness could not stifle his keen sense of humor. It was the more serious work of Wallace that
won him renown throughout the country.
One of his cartoons, ‘The Harvest Moon in Europe,’ compelled the
admiration of the late Theodore Roosevelt.
The creation, which depicted the frightful toll of the World War in
impressive manner, was styled by Roosevelt one of the greatest two cartoons
inspired by that struggle. The depth of
thought and feeling which characterized the more serious work of Les Wallace is
evidenced in the last cartoon made by him and published on Lincoln’s birthday
with the caption, ‘Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand.’
To those who knew the artist well,
his outstanding characteristics were an indomitable will and superb
courage. Stricken with an illness two
years ago that carried him to the brink of the Valley of Shadows, Les through
nerve and will power fought his way back and carried on despite a physical
handicap that seemed at time insurmountable, maintaining through it all a
spirit of cheerfulness that gave little hint to the outside world of the burden
of his illness…Les Wallace was gifted as a writer of verse. Frequently in his efforts for the readers of
the Press-Telegram he wrote poetry to accompany his art creations.”
On December 10, 1907, Mr. Wallace
was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Bennett, daughter of Robert and Eliza
Bennett, both of whom are deceased. Mr.
and Mrs. Wallace became the parents of a son and a daughter: Robert Leslie, a taxidermist, who has
manifested exceptional talent as a sculptor and is preparing to devote himself
to that art; and Margaret, who is the wife of B. L. Boston and the mother of
one child, Jacqueline. Mr. Wallace was a
fancier of high-bred bulldogs. His widow
and children cherish the memory of a devoted and loving husband and father who
found his greatest happiness at his own fireside. Mrs. Wallace is a student of astrology and is
also deeply interested in women’s organizations of Long Beach where she resides
in an attractive home at 2527 Pacific Avenue.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 107-109, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES