Sheldon Leonard
| Sheldon Leonard | |
|---|---|
Leonard in the trailer for Another Thin Man (1939)
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| Born |
Sheldon Leonard Bershad February 22, 1907 Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 11, 1997 (aged 89) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Actor, writer, producer, director |
| Years active | 1934–1996 |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Bober (1931–97; his death; 2 children) (d.1999) |
Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997), known professionally as Sheldon Leonard, was an American film and television actor, producer, director and writer.
Leonard was born as Sheldon Leonard Bershad, in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle class Jewish parents Anna Levit and Frank Bershad.
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. Ironically, 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.
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