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person_profile-Sheldon Leonard

Sheldon Leonard Died at age: 89

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Sheldon Leonard

Date of Birth:

Feb 22, 1907

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Jan 10, 1997

Biography of

Sheldon Leonard

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and writer. Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle class Jewish parents Anna Levit and Frank Bershad. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1929.

    As an actor, Leonard specialized in playing supporting characters, especially gangsters or "heavies", in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946; as bartender Nick), To Have and Have Not (1944), Guys and Dolls (1955), and Open Secret (1948). His trademark was his especially thick New York accent, usually delivered from the side of his mouth. In Decoy (1946), Leonard uses his "heavy" persona to create the hard-boiled police detective Joe Portugal.

    On radio from 1945 to 1955, Leonard played an eccentric racetrack tout on The Jack Benny Program and later in the TV series of the same name. His role was to salute Benny out of the blue in railroad stations, on street corners, or in department stores ("Hey Bud. C'mere a minute."), ask Benny what he was about to do, and then proceed to try to argue him out of his course of action by resorting to inane and irrelevant racing logic. As "The Tout," he never gave out information on horse racing, unless Jack demanded it. One excuse the tout gave was, "Who knows about horses?"

    Leonard was part of the cast of voice actors on the Damon Runyon Theatre radio show (1948-1949). He was part of the ensemble cast of the Martin and Lewis radio show. He also appeared frequently on The Adventures of the Saint, often playing gangsters and heavies, but also sometimes in more positive roles. Leonard was also a regular on the radio comedy series The Adventures of Maisie in the 1940s. During the 1950s, Leonard provided the voice of lazy fat cat Dodsworth in two Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoons directed by Robert McKimson. In the adventure movie The Iroquois Trail (1950), Leonard played against type in the significant role of Chief Ogane, a Native American warrior, who pursues and fights the frontiersman Nat "Hawkeye" Cutler (George Montgomery) in a climactic duel to the death with knives.

    Later in the 1950s and 1960s, he established a reputation as a producer of successful television series, including The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room For Daddy) (1953–64), The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (1964–69), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66), and I Spy (1965–68). He also directed several TV series episodes, including four of the first eight episodes of the TV series Lassie (Season 1, 1954). Leonard also provided the voice of Linus the Lionhearted in a series of Post Crispy Critters cereal TV commercials in 1963-64, which led to a Linus cartoon series that aired on Saturday (and later, Sunday) mornings on CBS (1964–66) and ABC (1967–69). He also was briefly the star of his own television show Big Eddie (1975), where he played the owner of a large sports arena. The show lasted for only ten episodes.

Photos of

Sheldon Leonard

Photos ( 1 Photos

Filmography of

Sheldon Leonard

Found 73 Movies in total

... 2020

... 2011

Color Adjustment

Self ( Actor )

... 1992

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1987

The Brink's Job

J. Edgar Hoover ( Actor )

... 1978

The Islander

Paul Lazaro ( Actor )

... 1978

Top Secret

Carl Vitale ( Actor )

Executive Producer

... 1978

Pocketful of Miracles

Steve Darcey ( Actor )

... 1961

Guys and Dolls

Harry the Horse ( Actor )

... 1955

Money from Home

Jumbo Schneider ( Actor )

... 1953

The Diamond Queen

Mogul ( Actor )

... 1953

... 1952

Breakdown

Nick Sampson ( Actor )

... 1952

Young Man with Ideas

Rodwell 'Brick' Davis ( Actor )

... 1952

... 1952

Come Fill the Cup

Lennie Garr ( Actor )

... 1951

Behave Yourself!

Shortwave Bert ( Actor )

... 1951

... 1951

The Iroquois Trail

Chief Ogane ( Actor )

... 1950

Take One False Step

Detective Pacciano ( Actor )

... 1949

My Dream Is Yours

Grimes ( Actor )

... 1949

Daughter of the Jungle

Dalton Kraik ( Actor )

... 1949

Shep Comes Home

'Swifty' Lewis ( Actor )

... 1948

... 1948

Jinx Money

Lippy Harris ( Actor )

... 1948

Madonna of the Desert

Nick Julian ( Actor )

... 1948

Open Secret

Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli ( Actor )

... 1948

If You Knew Susie

Steve Garland ( Actor )

... 1948

Alias a Gentleman

Harry Bealer ( Actor )

... 1948

The Gangster

Cornell ( Actor )

... 1947

The Fabulous Joe

Louie ( Actor )

... 1947

Violence

Fred Stalk ( Actor )

... 1947

Sinbad the Sailor

Auctioneer ( Actor )

... 1947

... 1946

Decoy

Sergeant Joe Portugal ( Actor )

... 1946

The Last Crooked Mile

Ed 'Wires' MacGuire ( Actor )

... 1946

Bowery Bombshell

Ace Deuce Baker ( Actor )

... 1946

... 1946

Her Kind of Man

Felix Bender ( Actor )

... 1946

Rainbow Over Texas

Kirby Haynes ( Actor )

... 1946

The Gentleman Misbehaves

Trigger Stazzi ( Actor )

... 1946

Frontier Gal

'Blackie' Shoulders ( Actor )

... 1945

Captain Kidd

Cyprian Boyle ( Actor )

... 1945

Why Girls Leave Home

Chris Williams ( Actor )

... 1945

River Gang

Peg Leg ( Actor )

... 1945

Radio Stars on Parade

Lucky Maddox ( Actor )

... 1945

Zombies on Broadway

Ace Miller ( Actor )

... 1945

Crime, Inc.

Capt. Ferrone ( Actor )

... 1945

To Have and Have Not

Lt. Coyo ( Actor )

... 1945

The Falcon in Hollywood

Louie Buchanan ( Actor )

... 1944

Gambler's Choice

Chappie Wilson ( Actor )

... 1944

Trocadero

Mickey Jones ( Actor )

... 1944

Uncertain Glory

Henri Duval ( Actor )

... 1944

Timber Queen

Smacksie Golden ( Actor )

... 1944

Klondike Kate

'Sometime' Smith ( Actor )

... 1943

Harvest Melody

Chuck ( Actor )

... 1943

Passport to Suez

Johnny Booth ( Actor )

... 1943

Hit the Ice

Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby ( Actor )

... 1943

Taxi, Mister

Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost ( Actor )

... 1943

City Without Men

Monk LaRue ( Actor )

... 1943

Lucky Jordan

Slip Moran ( Actor )

... 1942

Street of Chance

Joe Marruci ( Actor )

... 1942

Pierre of the Plains

Clairou ( Actor )

... 1942

Tortilla Flat

Tito Ralph ( Actor )

... 1942

Born to Sing

Pete Detroit ( Actor )

... 1942

Rise and Shine

Menace ( Actor )

... 1941

Week-End in Havana

Boris ( Actor )

... 1941

Married Bachelor

Johnny Brannigan ( Actor )

... 1941

Buy Me That Town

Chink Moran ( Actor )

... 1941

Private Nurse

John Winton ( Actor )

... 1941

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Pretty Willie Williams ( Actor )

... 1941

Another Thin Man

Phil Church ( Actor )

... 1939

Ouanga

LeStrange, the Overseer ( Actor )

... 1935