Photo: Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, Winnie the Pooh Merchandising Pioneer, Dies

Photo: Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, Winnie the Pooh Merchandising Pioneer, Dies

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, the widow of licensing pioneer Stephen Slesinger, died today at the age of 84. Stephen Slesinger, a successful literary agent and licensing pioneer bought U. S. and Canadian merchandising rights to Winnie the Pooh as well as TV, radio, new technology and other trade and future media rights from A. A. Milne, Pooh's creator, in the early 1930s.

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Shirley Ann Basso was born in Detroit, Mich., May 27, 1923, the first of two daughters of Michael Basso and Clara Louise Leasia.

Her daughter, Pati Slesinger, said she was a wonderful mother and grandmother, and she loved Winnie the Pooh like her own child. "My mother loved Winnie the Pooh. Pooh was part of our family," said Pati Slesinger, daughter of Stephen and Shirley. "Shirley built the Winnie the Pooh brand through her hard work and determination to share the funny little bear and his friends with mothers and children throughout the world."

Shirley Slesinger Lasswell was a Broadway showgirl when she met Stephen Slesinger in 1947. She was introduced to him backstage while appearing in "Hellzapoppin'" on Broadway. She was married to Slesinger in 1948 in Las Vegas. Silent screen legend Clara Bow and her husband, Western movie actor Rex Bell, were the maid of honor and best man.

Upon Stephen Slesinger's death in 1953, his wife Shirley took over his licensing business, focusing her attention on building the Winnie the Pooh characters. Shirley said, "I believed there was so much magic and potential for Pooh. I wanted to make the most beautifully designed and finest quality Pooh items."

She designed and developed clothes and toys, and went door-to-door to New York's top department stores to sell Pooh products. Shirley's new artwork and ideas came from the perspective of a mom and she developed the products she wanted herself. She searched for the best manufacturers and insisted on the finest quality Pooh Character items for her buyers at Bergdorf's, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Filenes, Marshall Fields and Bullocks Wilshire, for whom she also developed Pooh Corner displays for their children's departments.

"I believed there was so much magic and potential for Pooh. I spoke to teachers and children and parents and went to the children's departments of stores to observe. I wrote down the names of manufacturers who made the apparel, accessories and gifts, which appealed most to me. We created oversized Pooh activity books with oversized stationery, postcards, growth charts, cutouts and activities for parents to enjoy with their children. I wanted to make the most beautifully designed and finest quality Pooh items. Clothing, gifts and accessories that mothers like myself would want to buy for their children."

In 1961, after years of promoting the Pooh stories and building the Pooh brand, she granted television, trademark, and other commercial rights to Disney in the Pooh characters and stories. Walt Disney himself sought out Shirley, entering into a licensing agreement with Shirley Slesinger and A. A. Milne's widow, Daphne. The agreement with Disney would pay the Slesinger family a percentage of all gross revenues earned from all commercialization of Winnie the Pooh and related characters, worldwide. When meeting Walt Disney to license the rights, he told her, "Shirley, everybody loves Winnie the Pooh. You'll never be sorry."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and in February 1991, Stephen Slesinger Inc. was forced to sue the Walt Disney Company for underpayment of royalties and commingling of Pooh revenues with that of Disney-owned Mickey Mouse and other characters. Shirley Slesinger claimed that Disney owed the company hundreds of million in unpaid royalties.

Shirley Slesinger fist became aware that something was wrong with the royalty payments she was receiving from Disney in 1979 when she noticed that a variety of Winnie the Pooh items she purchased on trips abroad, from t-shirts to toothbrushes, were never accounted for in the financial statements she received from Disney. At the time, she also became aware that Disney was not paying royalties on videos, software and many other items. The Slesingers have been engaged in a sixteen-year battle with Disney over the royalty payments on Winnie the Pooh and friends. It is estimated that Winnie the Pooh is worth 15 billion dollars to Disney.

Shirley Slesinger was married to illustrator Fred Lasswell, Jr. for 37 years. Lasswell was a well-known illustrator who wrote and drew the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strips for sixty years and who died in 2001.

Shirley Slesinger lived in Tampa, Florida. Her survivors include her daughter Pati Slesinger, granddaughter Kristina, son-in-law David Bentson, and many relatives and dear friends.

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Source: Soury Communications, Inc.

CONTACT: Lonnie Soury of Soury Communications, Inc., +1-212-414-5857,
+1-917-519-4521

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Profile: International Entertainment