Norman Sterry

Sterry was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1878, the son of Clinton Norman Sterry (1843–1903) and Lousie Augusta Slocum. He was educated in the public schools in Kansas.[1] In 1892, his father, who was an attorney, became the general attorney for the Santa Fe Railroad in the region west of Albuquerque.[2] In October 1896, at age 18, Sterry moved with his family to Los Angeles.[2][3] At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Sterry was listed as a student living with his parents at 2607 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. He had two younger sisters, Nora and Ruth, and a younger brother, Philip.[4]

Sterry received his further education at Meaney's Private School for Boys and the University of New Mexico.[3]

In 1900, Sterry enrolled in the Law Department at the University of Michigan and received his law degree in 1903.[1] While at Michigan, Sterry played at the halfback and end positions on the Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1900 to 1902. He was a member of Fielding H. Yost's 1901 and 1902 "Point-a-Minute" football teams that compiled a 22–0 record and outscored opponents 1,197 to 12.[5][6][7]

Sterry's father died in May 1903,[8] the same month Sterry was admitted to the Michigan bar.[3]

After receiving his law degree, Sterry returned to Los Angeles and was admitted to the California bar in October 1903.[3] By 1910, he had partnered with the founders of what became one of California's most prominent law firms, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. As of 1918, he was one of six lawyers listed as members of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.[1] Sterry remained with the Gibson Dunn firm throughout his career, serving as a senior partner at least into the 1950s.[9]

During the 1910s, Sterry was counsel for the Los Angeles Railway and other large companies operating in Los Angeles. In a draft registration card completed in September 1918, Sterry indicated that he was self-employed as an attorney with an office in Los Angeles at the Merchants National Bank Building, Suite 1111.[10]

In the late 1920s, Sterry represented silent film star Lillian Gish in lawsuits involving slander which received national press coverage due to the salacious allegations.[11][12][13][14][15]

In the mid-1930s, Sterry also gained national attention for a suit in which he alleged silent film star Mary Miles Minter had been systematically cheated out of her earnings by her mother. Sterry alleged that Minter had earned over $1 million, but she did not have lunch money and was left impoverished by the mother. The case was ultimately settled in the middle of the proceedings.[16][17][18][19]

Sterry also represented dime-store heiress Barbara Hutton in a child custody dispute with her former husband Cary Grant in the 1940s.[20]

In 1953, Sterry, then a senior partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, successfully represented the New Yankees in a case before the United States Supreme Court, Toolson v. New York Yankees, 346 U.S. 356, which upheld an exemption from the antitrust laws for Major League Baseball.[21][22][23]

In 1909, Sterry married Josephine Lewis. At the time of the 1910 United States Census, Sterry and his wife lived in Los Angeles with Sterry's mother, Louise, and his three siblings.[24]

Sterry and his wife had a daughter, Louisa, and a son, Lewis Trask Sterry. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, Sterry was living in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.[25] At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Sterry lived on South Rossmore Street in Los Angeles with his wife, two children, and two servants.[26]

He died in February 1971 at age 92 and was survived by his wife, Josephine, and son, Lewis.[9][27] He is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.[28]