GEORGE LESLIE came from humble origins in Scotland but he ended up rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Now new pictures have emerged that illustrate the amazing rags to riches story of Mr Leslie.

When growing up in Aberdeen it seemed ludicrous to think Mr Leslie would one day end up counting some of the world’s biggest movie stars as his personal friends.

But his son has recently found a scrapbook containing some of his father’s most prized photographs and show him with his celebrity friends.

Paul Newman and William Holden, who both starred in the Oscar-winning movie The Towering Inferno, John Wayne, Michael Caine and Richard Burton are just some of the leading actors Mr Leslie mingled with after he landed a job with Warner Brothers in Hollywood.

Mr Leslie was employed as a location controller, auditor and even became a bit-part actor during a remarkable career in the US.

His son Ian, a retired microbiologist, has now spoken about his father’s connections after he came across a treasure trove of memorabilia following 
Mr Leslie’s death in 2011, aged 92.

Mr Leslie, who was described as a determined character, worked with Newman and Holden – one of the biggest box office draws over two decades up to the 1970s – on the blockbuster disaster movie about a skyscraper engulfed by fire.

He became friends with legendary cowboy star Wayne while they were involved in three different films, including the classic Rio Bravo.

His son said there were precious few stars in Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s who did not find themselves close to Mr Leslie.

Mr Leslie, leafing through some of the images from the golden age of movies, said: “It was in 1954 when a relative told him: ‘California is paved with gold’.

“And that was it. He walked away from a good newspaper job, travelled to the United States and started out by pulling the nails out of a board on a stage set so they could be used again.

“It just grew from there. He gradually moved up the ladder at Warner Bros, and when they suffered some problems, he moved on to the Disney studio.

“But it was in the late 1960s and the 1970s when he was involved in some really big blockbusters such as The Towering Inferno.

“He didn’t talk much about his work, but later on, I heard plenty of stories about how he had to keep films on budget.

“That meant locking up a hotel bar on one occasion, so that Richard Burton wouldn’t try to get any more drink.

The Herald:

Mr Leslie with Michael Caine

“On another occasion, (the Oscar-winning director) Francis Ford Coppola wanted to shoot a scene on somebody’s private land and my father had to tell him ‘Francis, you just can’t do this’.

“But it does make me feel proud when I look at the photographs 
my father collected during his life.

“He really liked Paul Newman, John Wayne, Brian Keith and Glenn Close and he relished the bit parts when he got to appear on screen as well, including a role as a priest in a film with Malcolm McDowell.”