Jake Ehrlich | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jacob Wilbur Ehrlich October 15, 1900 |
| Died | December 24, 1971(1971-12-24) (aged 71) San Francisco, California |
| Burial place | Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Jake W. Ehrlich (October 15, 1900 – December 24, 1971) was an American lawyer and writer.[1]
Ehrlich was born near Rockville,Montgomery County, Maryland. He earned a law degree and later a doctorate atGeorgetown University. He married Marjorie Mercer on June 30, 1920.
Known as "the Master", Ehrlich had a 50-year career as a defense and divorce attorney in San Francisco. He was an early example of a "celebrity lawyer", with a talent for publicity as well as legal expertise. He wrote a dozen books, on such subjects as the law, the Bible, and his own life story.
He was the model for television lawyerSam Benedict, portrayed byEdmond O'Brien in the early 1960s, and Ehrlich was the series' technical adviser.[2] In the 1950s, Ehrlich had coached actorRaymond Burr when Burr was preparing to play trial attorney and sleuthPerry Mason on television. Some writers contend that Ehrlich was the actual inspiration for the Perry Mason character, who first appeared in novels in 1933, when Ehrlich was a young attorney. But Mason's creator,Erle Stanley Gardner — whose own legal career bore similarities to Ehrlich's — did not make any such statement.
For much of his career, Ehrlich was lead attorney for the San Francisco Police Officer's Association. Ehrlich defended prostitutes and police officers during the 1937 Grand Jury proceedings initiated by the work ofEdwin Atherton, hired by the San Francisco DA to investigate police malfeasance.
Ehrlich's slogan was "Never Plead Guilty."[2]
His celebrity clients include actors, writers, night club entertainers, directors, musicians, sports figures, industrialists, madames, murderers, bigamists and petty crooks. Included in his client list wereAlexander Pantages for statutory rape,Gene Krupa forcannabis andBillie Holiday forheroin,[3] as well asErrol Flynn andJames Mason for divorce,Howard Hughes for the movieThe Outlaw,[2] and Gertrude Morris for murdering her husband in 1952.[3] He also defended rapistCaryl Chessman and stripperSally Rand.[4]
In 1957, he was lead attorney forLawrence Ferlinghetti, proprietor ofCity Lights Books along with L. Speiser andAl Bendich, defending the sale ofAllen Ginsberg's bookHowl and Other Poems in the obscenity trial. In the 2010 feature filmHowl, Ehrlich is played by actorJon Hamm. In another connection to the world of entertainment, Ehrlich was father-in-law to famed recording starGuy Cherney.[5]
The residence Ehrlich designed with a sliding glass roof at the top of Camino Alto Road in Marin County, in Northern California, was later owned by rock promoterBill Graham. Ehrlich loved to tell people visiting his home that the electronic roof was actually powered by clients who were unable to pay their legal bills.[citation needed]
