
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.
Known For







Credits
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It's Always Sunday FutureGeorge★ NR
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Self (archive footage)★ 8
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Self★ 10
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Color Adjustment 1992Self★ 6.9
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Self★ 6
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Dream On 1990Don Monteleoni★ 6.9
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Self (archive footage)★ 6
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Matlock 1986Casino Tipster★ 7.1
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Murder, She Wrote 1984Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski★ 7.5
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The Cosby Show 1984Dr. Wexler★ 7
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Cheers 1982Sid Nelson★ 7.6
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The Facts of Life 1979★ 7
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The Brink's Job 1978J. Edgar Hoover★ 6
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The Islander 1978Paul Lazaro★ NR
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Top Secret 1978Carl Vitale★ NR
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Big Eddie 1975★ NR
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Dinah! 1974Self★ 6.7
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Self★ 5.4
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Sanford and Son 1972★ 7.4
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★ 5.5
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Self★ 6.5
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I Spy 1965Disc Jockey★ 6.3
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Linus (voice)★ 7
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Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. 1964Norman Miles★ 7.2
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Burke's Law 1963Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone★ 6
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The Lucy Show 1962Sheldon Leonard★ 7
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Steve Darcey★ 7.3
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Big Max Calvada★ 7.4
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Guys and Dolls 1955Harry the Horse★ 6.6
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George★ 6.5
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The Duke 1954Sam Marco★ NR
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Money from Home 1953Jumbo Schneider★ 5.8
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The Diamond Queen 1953Mogul★ NR
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Gus★ 6
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A Peck o' Trouble 1953Dodsworth (voice)★ 5.6
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★ 6.3
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Lefty★ 5
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Breakdown 1952Nick Sampson★ 6
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Sock a Doodle Do 1952Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)★ 6.3
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Young Man with Ideas 1952Rodwell 'Brick' Davis★ 4.7
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Kiddin' the Kitten 1952Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)★ 6.2
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Duke★ 6
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Come Fill the Cup 1951Lennie Garr★ 7
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I Love Lucy 1951Harry Martin (uncredited)★ 7.9
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Behave Yourself! 1951Shortwave Bert★ 6.1
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Boots Morgan★ 6.3
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Elevator Tout★ 7.8
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Johnny Velvet★ 6.9
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Self★ 6.8
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The Iroquois Trail 1950Chief Ogane★ 5.8
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Take One False Step 1949Detective Pacciano★ 5.5
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My Dream Is Yours 1949Grimes★ 6.5
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Dalton Kraik★ 4.3
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Shep Comes Home 1948'Swifty' Lewis★ 6
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Hermon★ 6
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Jinx Money 1948Lippy Harris★ 4.7
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Nick Julian★ 6
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Open Secret 1948Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli★ 6.5
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If You Knew Susie 1948Steve Garland★ 7.5
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Alias a Gentleman 1948Harry Bealer★ 6.5
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The Gangster 1947Cornell★ 4.8
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The Fabulous Joe 1947Louie★ 5.8
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Violence 1947Fred Stalk★ 5.2
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Sinbad the Sailor 1947Auctioneer★ 6
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Nick★ 8.3
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Decoy 1946Sergeant Joe Portugal★ 5.9
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Ed 'Wires' MacGuire★ 5
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Bowery Bombshell 1946Ace Deuce Baker★ 6
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Sam★ 6.7
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Her Kind of Man 1946Felix Bender★ 5.8
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Rainbow Over Texas 1946Kirby Haynes★ 4
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Trigger Stazzi★ NR
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Frontier Gal 1945'Blackie' Shoulders★ 4.4
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Captain Kidd 1945Cyprian Boyle★ 6
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Why Girls Leave Home 1945Chris Williams★ 5
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River Gang 1945Peg Leg★ NR
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Lucky Maddox★ NR
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Zombies on Broadway 1945Ace Miller★ 5
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Crime, Inc. 1945Capt. Ferrone★ 4.2
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To Have and Have Not 1945Lt. Coyo★ 7.5
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Louie Buchanan★ 6
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Gambler's Choice 1944Chappie Wilson★ 5.8
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Trocadero 1944Mickey Jones★ 5.4
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Uncertain Glory 1944Henri Duval★ 6.6
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Timber Queen 1944Smacksie Golden★ 5.7
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Klondike Kate 1943'Sometime' Smith★ 5.8
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Harvest Melody 1943Chuck★ 4
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Passport to Suez 1943Johnny Booth★ 5.7
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Hit the Ice 1943Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby★ 5.9
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Taxi, Mister 1943Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost★ 4.2
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City Without Men 1943Monk LaRue★ 5
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Lucky Jordan 1942Slip Moran★ 6
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Street of Chance 1942Joe Marruci★ 5.3
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Pierre of the Plains 1942Clairou★ 4.2
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Tortilla Flat 1942Tito Ralph★ 5.4
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Born to Sing 1942Pete Detroit★ 5
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Rise and Shine 1941Menace★ 6
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Week-End in Havana 1941Boris★ 6.6
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Married Bachelor 1941Johnny Brannigan★ 5.8
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Buy Me That Town 1941Chink Moran★ 6
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Private Nurse 1941John Winton★ NR
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Pretty Willie Williams★ 5.6
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Another Thin Man 1939Phil Church★ 7.1
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Ouanga 1935LeStrange, the Overseer★ 5
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The Gem of the Ocean 1934Pasha★ NR
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My Mummy's Arms 1934Abdullah★ NR