Sheldon Leonard
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 22, 1907
- Died
- January 10, 1997 (aged 89)
- Birthplace
- Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Sheldon Leonard's Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self
Color Adjustment
Movie · as Self
The Making of 'It's a Wonderful Life'
Movie · as Self
Dream On
TV · as Don Monteleoni · 1 ep
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Matlock
TV · as Casino Tipster · 1 ep
American Masters
TV · as Self - Interviewee (archive footage) · 1 ep
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski · 1 ep
The Cosby Show
TV · as Dr. Wexler · 1 ep
Cheers
TV · as Sid Nelson · 1 ep
The Facts of Life
TV · 1 ep
The Brink's Job
Movie · as J. Edgar Hoover
Top Secret
Movie · as Carl Vitale
The Islander
Movie · as Paul Lazaro
Big Eddie
TV · 10 eps
Dinah!
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Sanford and Son
TV · 3 eps
My World and Welcome to It
TV · 2 eps
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV · as Self (uncredited) · 4 eps
I Spy
TV · as Disc Jockey
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
TV · as Norman Miles · 1 ep
Linus the Lionhearted
TV · as Linus (voice) · 3 eps
Burke's Law
TV · as Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone, 'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski · 1 ep
The Lucy Show
TV · as Sheldon Leonard · 1 ep
The Merv Griffin Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Pocketful of Miracles
Movie · as Steve Darcey
The Dick Van Dyke Show
TV · as Big Max Calvada, Floyd B. Bariscale (voice) (uncredited) · 1 ep
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self · 4 eps
The David Susskind Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Guys and Dolls
Movie · as Harry the Horse
Screen Director's Playhouse
TV · as George · 1 ep
The Duke
TV · as Sam Marco · 1 ep
A Peck o' Trouble
Movie · as Dodsworth (voice)
The Diamond Queen
Movie · as Mogul
Money from Home
Movie · as Jumbo Schneider
General Electric Theater
TV · 2 eps
The Danny Thomas Show
TV · as Gus, Phil Brokaw · 1 ep
Stop, You're Killing Me
Movie · as Lefty
Sock a Doodle Do
Movie · as Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)
Young Man with Ideas
Movie · as Rodwell 'Brick' Davis
Kiddin' the Kitten
Movie · as Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)
Breakdown
Movie · as Nick Sampson
Here Come the Nelsons
Movie · as Duke
Your Jeweler's Showcase
TV · as Hardwick Harris · 1 ep
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Movie · as Boots Morgan
Behave Yourself!
Movie · as Shortwave Bert
Come Fill the Cup
Movie · as Lennie Garr
I Love Lucy
TV · as Harry Martin (uncredited) · 1 ep
The Iroquois Trail
Movie · as Chief Ogane
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Jack Benny Program
TV · as Elevator Tout, Racetrack Tout, Tombstone Harry, Bobby Darin's Agent (uncredited) · 1 ep
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
TV · as Johnny Velvet, Silky Thompson · 2 eps
Take One False Step
Movie · as Detective Pacciano
My Dream Is Yours
Movie · as Grimes
Daughter of the Jungle
Movie · as Dalton Kraik
Open Secret
Movie · as Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli
Jinx Money
Movie · as Lippy Harris
If You Knew Susie
Movie · as Steve Garland
Alias a Gentleman
Movie · as Harry Bealer
Madonna of the Desert
Movie · as Nick Julian
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
Movie · as Hermon
Shep Comes Home
Movie · as 'Swifty' Lewis
The Gangster
Movie · as Cornell
Violence
Movie · as Fred Stalk
Sinbad the Sailor
Movie · as Auctioneer
The Fabulous Joe
Movie · as Louie
It's a Wonderful Life
Movie · as Nick
Decoy
Movie · as Sergeant Joe Portugal
Her Kind of Man
Movie · as Felix Bender
The Last Crooked Mile
Movie · as Ed 'Wires' MacGuire
Bowery Bombshell
Movie · as Ace Deuce Baker
Rainbow Over Texas
Movie · as Kirby Haynes
Somewhere in the Night
Movie · as Sam
The Gentleman Misbehaves
Movie · as Trigger Stazzi
Zombies on Broadway
Movie · as Ace Miller
To Have and Have Not
Movie · as Lt. Coyo
Crime, Inc.
Movie · as Capt. Ferrone
Frontier Gal
Movie · as 'Blackie' Shoulders
Why Girls Leave Home
Movie · as Chris Williams
Radio Stars on Parade
Movie · as Lucky Maddox
Captain Kidd
Movie · as Cyprian Boyle
River Gang
Movie · as Peg Leg
The Falcon in Hollywood
Movie · as Louie Buchanan
Trocadero
Movie · as Mickey Jones
Gambler's Choice
Movie · as Chappie Wilson
Timber Queen
Movie · as Smacksie Golden
Uncertain Glory
Movie · as Henri Duval
Hit the Ice
Movie · as Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
Passport to Suez
Movie · as Johnny Booth
Taxi, Mister
Movie · as Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost
City Without Men
Movie · as Monk LaRue
Klondike Kate
Movie · as 'Sometime' Smith
Harvest Melody
Movie · as Chuck
Street of Chance
Movie · as Joe Marruci
Tortilla Flat
Movie · as Tito Ralph
Born to Sing
Movie · as Pete Detroit
Lucky Jordan
Movie · as Slip Moran
Pierre of the Plains
Movie · as Clairou
Week-End in Havana
Movie · as Boris
Rise and Shine
Movie · as Menace
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Movie · as Pretty Willie Williams
Married Bachelor
Movie · as Johnny Brannigan
Private Nurse
Movie · as John Winton
Buy Me That Town
Movie · as Chink Moran
Another Thin Man
Movie · as Phil Church
Ouanga
Movie · as LeStrange, the Overseer
The Gem of the Ocean
Movie · as Pasha
My Mummy's Arms
Movie · as Abdullah