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Sheldon Leonard

November 13, 2023

Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter.

Sheldon Leonard
Leonard in the trailer for Another Thin Man (1939)
Born
Sheldon Leonard Bershad

(1907-02-22)February 22, 1907
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 11, 1997(1997-01-11) (aged 89)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
EducationSyracuse University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • director
  • writer
Years active1934–1997
Spouse
Frances Bober
​
(m. 1931)​
Children2

Early life edit

Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-class Jewish parents Frank Bershad and Anna Levit.[1] He graduated from Syracuse University in 1929.

Career edit

 
Dan Seymour, Aldo Nadi, Humphrey Bogart, Sheldon Leonard, Marcel Dalio and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not (1944)

As an actor, Leonard specialized in playing supporting characters, especially gangsters or "heavies". His trademark was his especially thick New York accent, usually delivered from the side of his mouth. (He would often pronounce th as t and would say er as oi, thus he would pronounce earth as oit.) His breakthrough role was in Another Thin Man (1939), in which he played a soft-spoken but dangerous murder suspect. From then on he was typecast as smooth gangsters or streetwise guys in such movies as It's a Wonderful Life (1946; as bartender Nick), To Have and Have Not (1944), Guys and Dolls (1955), and Open Secret (1948). He was a favorite of director Frank Capra, who asked him to play an executive mobster in his 1961 movie Pocketful of Miracles. Leonard became so associated with tough-guy parts that he was occasionally cast against type, as a law-enforcement officer, in movies like Street of Chance (1942) and Decoy (1946). He even played a pirate in Captain Kidd (1945).

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 hail Benny 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.[2] He also appeared frequently on Dragnet and The Adventures of the Saint, often playing gangsters and heavies, but also sometimes in more sympathetic 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.

 
Leonard, Sheree North and Quinn Cummings in Big Eddie, 1975

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.

Though he never entirely abandoned acting, by the mid-1950s Leonard was much more likely to be found behind the camera than in front of it, as he transitioned from a character actor into a successful TV producer (often in partnership with Danny Thomas), and also a frequent TV episode director. Leonard's hits as a producer included The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room For Daddy) (1953–64), where midway through that series run, he had a recurring role as Danny's agent, Phil Brokaw; The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68); Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (1964–69); and I Spy (1965–68). Thanks to his many years in show business, Leonard had cultivated a quick, shrewd capacity for pinpointing strengths and flaws in prospective projects. It was Leonard who recognized that a sitcom pilot, Head of the Family, was structurally sound but miscast. He felt that actor–writer Carl Reiner was too overbearing as the lead, and insisted that the script be refilmed with up-and-coming comic Dick Van Dyke. The result was The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66).

Sheldon Leonard also directed several TV series episodes, including four of the first eight episodes of the TV series Lassie (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.

The character of Andy Taylor was introduced in a 1960 episode of The Danny Thomas Show, which led to the series The Andy Griffith Show. Leonard is informally credited with developing the practice of using an episode of a series as a backdoor pilot episode for new series, in which a guest star is introduced as a new character with the intention of using this character as the basis for a new show. Leonard introduced the Andy Griffith spin-off Mayberry R. F. D. as the summer replacement for the Griffith show, so it would have a pre-sold audience during the regular season. He was the executive producer on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., and had an appearance on the show as a Hollywood producer who has to do 34 takes on a movie scene before Sergeant Carter gets it right ("A Star Is Not Born").

Leonard also has the distinction (along with author Mickey Spillane) of being one of the first two Miller Lite spokesmen. Using his trademark accent, he told the audience, "I was at first reluctant to try Miller Lite, but then I was persuaded to do so by my friend, Large Louis." One of his last acting roles was a guest appearance on the TV series Cheers, in which he played Sid Nelson, the proprietor of "The Hungry Heifer", Norm Peterson's favorite eating establishment.

Leonard died on January 11, 1997, six weeks before his 90th birthday.[1][3] He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Legacy edit

Bill Cosby, whom Leonard cast in I Spy, described Leonard as "my last father" when he dedicated an episode of Cosby to both Leonard and his slain son Ennis Cosby. Bill Cosby included an impersonation of Sheldon Leonard in one track of his 1966 hit comedy album Wonderfulness. The track "Niagara Falls" describes Sheldon Leonard's honeymoon at Niagara Falls.

In "Monkees Marooned", the eighth episode of the second season of The Monkees, a character named Leonard Sheldon, and speaking with Leonard's accent, approaches Peter Tork on the street, much like "The Tout" and persuades Tork to trade his guitar for a treasure map.

Leonard's name served as an eponym for the characters Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory because the writers were fans of his work.[4]

Selected filmography edit

Actor

Producer

Director

References edit

  1. ^ a b Bruni, Frank (January 13, 1997). "Sheldon Leonard, Film Actor And TV Producer, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. p. 438. ISBN 0-199-84045-8. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  3. ^ Vosburgh, Dick (January 17, 1997). "Sheldon Leonard". The Independent. London. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "'Big Bang Theory': 'We didn't anticipate how protective the audience would feel about our guys'". Variety. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2010. Q. Are Sheldon and Leonard named after the brilliant (producer) Sheldon Leonard of "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Danny Thomas Show", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "My Favorite Martian" and "I Spy"? (Binnie) A. Yep. Chuck and I are both fans. Chuck's idea.

Further reading edit

  • Leonard, Sheldon. And The Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures. Limelight, 1995, ISBN 0-87910-184-9

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sheldon Leonard.

November 13, 2023
sheldon, leonard, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Sheldon Leonard news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Sheldon Leonard Bershad February 22 1907 January 11 1997 was an American film and television actor producer director and screenwriter Sheldon LeonardLeonard in the trailer for Another Thin Man 1939 BornSheldon Leonard Bershad 1907 02 22 February 22 1907Manhattan New York City U S DiedJanuary 11 1997 1997 01 11 aged 89 Beverly Hills California U S EducationSyracuse UniversityOccupationsActorproducerdirectorwriterYears active1934 1997SpouseFrances Bober m 1931 wbr Children2 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Legacy 4 Selected filmography 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksEarly life editSheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan New York City the son of middle class Jewish parents Frank Bershad and Anna Levit 1 He graduated from Syracuse University in 1929 Career edit nbsp Dan Seymour Aldo Nadi Humphrey Bogart Sheldon Leonard Marcel Dalio and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not 1944 As an actor Leonard specialized in playing supporting characters especially gangsters or heavies His trademark was his especially thick New York accent usually delivered from the side of his mouth He would often pronounce th as t and would say er as oi thus he would pronounce earth as oit His breakthrough role was in Another Thin Man 1939 in which he played a soft spoken but dangerous murder suspect From then on he was typecast as smooth gangsters or streetwise guys in such movies as It s a Wonderful Life 1946 as bartender Nick To Have and Have Not 1944 Guys and Dolls 1955 and Open Secret 1948 He was a favorite of director Frank Capra who asked him to play an executive mobster in his 1961 movie Pocketful of Miracles Leonard became so associated with tough guy parts that he was occasionally cast against type as a law enforcement officer in movies like Street of Chance 1942 and Decoy 1946 He even played a pirate in Captain Kidd 1945 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 hail Benny 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 2 He also appeared frequently on Dragnet and The Adventures of the Saint often playing gangsters and heavies but also sometimes in more sympathetic 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 nbsp Leonard Sheree North and Quinn Cummings in Big Eddie 1975In 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 Though he never entirely abandoned acting by the mid 1950s Leonard was much more likely to be found behind the camera than in front of it as he transitioned from a character actor into a successful TV producer often in partnership with Danny Thomas and also a frequent TV episode director Leonard s hits as a producer included The Danny Thomas Show aka Make Room For Daddy 1953 64 where midway through that series run he had a recurring role as Danny s agent Phil Brokaw The Andy Griffith Show 1960 68 Gomer Pyle U S M C 1964 69 and I Spy 1965 68 Thanks to his many years in show business Leonard had cultivated a quick shrewd capacity for pinpointing strengths and flaws in prospective projects It was Leonard who recognized that a sitcom pilot Head of the Family was structurally sound but miscast He felt that actor writer Carl Reiner was too overbearing as the lead and insisted that the script be refilmed with up and coming comic Dick Van Dyke The result was The Dick Van Dyke Show 1961 66 Sheldon Leonard also directed several TV series episodes including four of the first eight episodes of the TV series Lassie 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 The character of Andy Taylor was introduced in a 1960 episode of The Danny Thomas Show which led to the series The Andy Griffith Show Leonard is informally credited with developing the practice of using an episode of a series as a backdoor pilot episode for new series in which a guest star is introduced as a new character with the intention of using this character as the basis for a new show Leonard introduced the Andy Griffith spin off Mayberry R F D as the summer replacement for the Griffith show so it would have a pre sold audience during the regular season He was the executive producer on Gomer Pyle U S M C and had an appearance on the show as a Hollywood producer who has to do 34 takes on a movie scene before Sergeant Carter gets it right A Star Is Not Born Leonard also has the distinction along with author Mickey Spillane of being one of the first two Miller Lite spokesmen Using his trademark accent he told the audience I was at first reluctant to try Miller Lite but then I was persuaded to do so by my friend Large Louis One of his last acting roles was a guest appearance on the TV series Cheers in which he played Sid Nelson the proprietor of The Hungry Heifer Norm Peterson s favorite eating establishment Leonard died on January 11 1997 six weeks before his 90th birthday 1 3 He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City California Legacy editBill Cosby whom Leonard cast in I Spy described Leonard as my last father when he dedicated an episode of Cosby to both Leonard and his slain son Ennis Cosby Bill Cosby included an impersonation of Sheldon Leonard in one track of his 1966 hit comedy album Wonderfulness The track Niagara Falls describes Sheldon Leonard s honeymoon at Niagara Falls In Monkees Marooned the eighth episode of the second season of The Monkees a character named Leonard Sheldon and speaking with Leonard s accent approaches Peter Tork on the street much like The Tout and persuades Tork to trade his guitar for a treasure map Leonard s name served as an eponym for the characters Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory because the writers were fans of his work 4 Selected filmography editActor The People s Enemy 1935 as Third Department of Justice Representative Ouanga 1936 as LeStrange the Overseer Another Thin Man 1939 as Phil Church Tall Dark and Handsome 1941 as Pretty Willie Williams Private Nurse 1941 as John Winton Buy Me That Town 1941 as Chink Moran Week End in Havana 1941 as Boris Married Bachelor 1941 as Johnny Branigan Rise and Shine 1941 as Menace Born To Sing 1942 as Pete Detroit Tortilla Flat 1942 as Tito Ralph Pierre of the Plains 1942 as Clairou Street of Chance 1942 as Detective Joe Marruci Lucky Jordan 1942 as Slip Moran City Without Men 1943 as Monk LaRue Taxi Mister 1943 as Gangster Louis Glorio The Frisco Ghost Hit the Ice 1943 as Silky Fellowsby Passport to Suez 1943 as Johnny Booth Harvest Melody 1943 as Chuck Klondike Kate 1943 as Sometime Smith Timber Queen 1944 as Smacksie Golden Uncertain Glory 1944 as Henri Duval Trocadero 1944 as Mickey Jones Gambler s Choice 1944 as Chappie Wilson To Have and Have Not 1944 as Lt Coyo The Falcon in Hollywood 1944 as Louie Buchanan Zombies on Broadway 1945 as Ace Miller Crime Inc 1945 as Capt Ferrone Radio Stars on Parade 1945 as Lucky Maddox River Gang 1945 as Peg Leg Why Girls Leave Home 1945 as Chris Williams Captain Kidd 1945 as Cyprian Boyle Frontier Gal 1945 as Blackie Shoulders The Gentleman Misbehaves 1946 as Trigger Stazzi Her Kind of Man 1946 as Felix Bender Rainbow Over Texas 1946 as Kirby Haynes Somewhere in the Night 1946 as Sam Bowery Bombshell 1946 as Ace Deuce Baker The Last Crooked Mile 1946 as Ed Wires MacGuire Decoy 1946 as Police Sgt Joe Portugal It s a Wonderful Life 1946 as Nick the bartender Sinbad the Sailor 1947 as Auctioneer Violence 1947 as Fred Stalk The Hal Roach Comedy Carnival 1947 as Louie in Fabulous Joe The Fabulous Joe 1947 as Louie The Gangster 1947 as Cornell Open Secret 1948 as Detective Sgt Mike Frontelli Alias a Gentleman 1948 as Harry Bealer If You Knew Susie 1948 as Steve Garland Madonna of the Desert 1948 as Nick Julian Jinx Money 1948 as Lippy Harris Joe Palooka in Winner Take All 1948 as Hermon Shep Comes Home 1948 as Swifty Lewis Two Knights from Brooklyn 1949 as Louis Glorio The Frisco Ghost archive footage Daughter of the Jungle 1949 as Dalton Kraik My Dream Is Yours 1949 as Fred Grimes Take One False Step 1949 as Pacciano The Iroquois Trail 1950 as Chief Ogane Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man 1951 as Morgan Behave Yourself 1951 as Shortwave Bert Come Fill the Cup 1951 as Lennie Garr Here Come the Nelsons 1952 as Duke Kiddin the Kitten 1952 as Dodsworth voice Young Man with Ideas 1952 as Rodwell Brick Davis Sock a Doodle Do 1952 as Kid Banty voice Breakdown 1952 as Nick Sampson Stop You re Killing Me 1952 as Lefty A Peck o Trouble 1953 as Dodsworth voice The Diamond Queen 1953 as Mogul Money From Home 1953 as Jumbo Schneider Guys and Dolls 1955 as Harry the Horse Pocketful of Miracles 1961 as Steve Darcey The Brink s Job 1978 as J Edgar Hoover Producer The Danny Thomas Show 1953 1964 He also appeared onscreen as Phil Brokaw 1957 1961 The Andy Griffith Show 1960 1968 The Dick Van Dyke Show 1961 1966 He also appeared onscreen in the season 3 episode Big Max Calvada Gomer Pyle U S M C 1964 1969 He also appeared onscreen in the season 5 episode A Star is Not Born I Spy 1965 1968 Accidental Family 1967 1968 My World and Welcome to It 1969 1970 From a Bird s Eye View 1970 1971 Shirley s World 1971 1972 Director It s Always Jan The Andy Griffith Show The Danny Thomas Show The Dick Van Dyke Show My Favorite Martian pilot only I Spy Lassie 4 episodes Season 1 1954 References edit a b Bruni Frank January 13 1997 Sheldon Leonard Film Actor And TV Producer Dies at 89 The New York Times Dunning John 1998 On the Air The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio Oxford University Press p 438 ISBN 0 199 84045 8 Retrieved August 17 2019 Vosburgh Dick January 17 1997 Sheldon Leonard The Independent London Retrieved January 5 2014 Big Bang Theory We didn t anticipate how protective the audience would feel about our guys Variety May 5 2009 Archived from the original on May 25 2012 Retrieved February 5 2010 Q Are Sheldon and Leonard named after the brilliant producer Sheldon Leonard of The Andy Griffith Show The Danny Thomas Show The Dick Van Dyke Show My Favorite Martian and I Spy Binnie A Yep Chuck and I are both fans Chuck s idea Further reading editLeonard Sheldon And The Show Goes On Broadway and Hollywood Adventures Limelight 1995 ISBN 0 87910 184 9External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard at IMDb Sheldon Leonard at Turner Classic Movies Sheldon Leonard at the Internet Broadway Database nbsp Sheldon Leonard at museum tv Sheldon Leonard at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sheldon Leonard amp oldid 1181001618, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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