Leo Freedman, Builder and Patron of Arts, Dies

Leo Freedman, a son of Russian immigrants who began investing in Orange County real estate in the early 1950s, eventually building two Anaheim hotels and the Melodyland Theatre, died Saturday in Beverly Hills after a brief illness. He was 79.

Freedman’s Melodyland Theater, built in 1962 and one of the area’s first theaters-in-the-round, culminated a growing theatrical interest and became the venue for such touring Broadway shows as “Camelot” and “Oklahoma!” The familiar landmark opposite Disneyland closed as a theater in 1968 and was purchased the following year by the Anaheim Christian Church for use as its headquarters.

But Freedman renewed his theatrical bent in 1986, opening the Freedman Forum next door to Anaheim’s City Hall on Broadway. Freedman even persuaded city officials to rename a street next to the theater 42nd Street. However, Freedman relinquished operation of the theater in 1987 after one unsuccessful Broadway production. Now known as the Freedman Forum Celebrity Theatre, it mostly books musical acts.

Freedman most recently had been working with Anaheim officials to establish an international culinary institute in the city, associates said.

Once described as elfish-looking with an impish smile, Freedman was a friendly but private man who did not often socialize in Orange County, associates said.

In a 1987 Times interview, Freedman recounted his early years and his opportune attachment with the growing suburbs of Orange County.

He was born in London, where his family had emigrated at the turn of the century from the Russian port city of Odessa.

The family moved to Canada and eventually settled in Long Beach. Freedman and his 10 brothers and sisters lived over a grocery store which his father operated.

Freedman, in his earlier years, worked as a traveling salesman, but his first big break--and foray into the entertainment industry--came in 1952 when he invested $1,000 in a record called “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” that went on to be a hit.

During the early 50s, a friend suggested that he invest in land in Orange County, and he eventually parlayed a $3,000 investment of 10 acres into 100 acres along Harbor Boulevard, then still mostly strawberry fields.

The significance of the parcel became apparent in 1955 when, Freedman said, he became suspicious of offers to buy his land for the unheard of price of $15,000 an acre and then learned that an amusement park would be built across from the property.

He kept the land just beyond what would become Disneyland’s main entrance and built the Grand Hotel and the Hyatt Anaheim, now the Anaheim Plaza Resort Hotel.

Freedman also showed prescience in buying several parcels of land alongside freeways that he then leased to the state as offices for the California Highway Patrol. He also developed several housing projects in Anaheim.

He is survived by a daughter, Deborah Lee Gorra of Loma Linda; two brothers, Sol Freedman of Nevada and Norman Freedman of Hemet, and a sister, Sophie Lesk in Canada.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Anaheim Plaza Resort Hotel at Freedman Way and Harbor Boulevard.