Les Clark playing polo

I've been conducting lots of research lately for a multitude of different areas of Disney history that interest me.

One area I'm keen on is Walt's love of polo. Several Disney staffers took-up the hobby with the boss including his brother Roy, studio lawyer Gunther Lessing, Les Clark, Dick Lundy, Bill Tytla, Bill Cottrell, Jack Cutting, and Norm Ferguson.

I have around four-dozen newspaper clippings, and many magazine articles from the 1930s that cover Walt's polo hobby. The earliest newspaper clipping I have dates from April 1933.

In August 1933 a magazine columnist wrote: "Walt polo's a bit himself, but the only thing wrong with his playing is that he spends more time under the horse than on top of one.Walt says he does it to keep out of the sun, but it sounds like a lot of horse to me."

Les Clark joined the studio just days after graduating from high school and stayed with Walt for an amazing 48 years. Clark was one of Walt's "Nine Old Men," and was posthumously named a a Disney Legend.

I recently made contact with a member of Clark's family. They have graciously been going through boxes of Les Clark's belongings looking for things to share with me. Here's one interesting item they sent my way:

 

 

This is a photo of Les Clark playing polo with several other Disney artists. Clark is second from the left. Not sure if this is a full-fledged game, or just a practice. I don't think this is a sanctioned game as the player on the far left isn't wearing a helmet.

I have some images of the Riviera Country Club's polo fields and the background buildings in this image don't match. This could have been at DuBrock's as the "Mickey Mouse Team," as they was sometimes called, played there quite a bit, but I've never seen a photo from that field either, so I can't make a comparison. In all there were over 20 different polo fields in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area in the 1930s.

As we all know, Walt Disney was quite an accomplished polo player. Walt's polo career ended when he took a polo shot to the back of the neck while practicing with the visiting Argentinian national team. The injury wasn't treated properly and Walt suffered with debilitating pain for the rest of his life.

I have several other neat items from the Clark family I hope to post at a later date.