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	Acting
Most Rating	0.7335
Birthday	1907-02-22
Place of Birth	Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As	S.L. Bershad, S. L. Bershad, Sheldon Leonard Bershad,

Pocketful of Miracles

It's a Wonderful Life

Decoy

Guys and Dolls

Zombies on Broadway

Take One False Step

My Dream Is Yours

To Have and Have Not

The Brink's Job

The Gangster

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Hit the Ice

Crime, Inc.

Another Thin Man

Street of Chance

Violence

Sinbad the Sailor

The Falcon in Hollywood

Week-End in Havana

Her Kind of Man

Rise and Shine

Open Secret

The Last Crooked Mile

Jinx Money

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Stop, You're Killing Me

Tortilla Flat

Born to Sing

Bowery Bombshell

Sock a Doodle Do

Sheldon Leonard's Wonderful Life

The Gem of the Ocean

Passport to Suez

Rainbow Over Texas

Young Man with Ideas

Kiddin' the Kitten

Breakdown

Lucky Jordan

Frontier Gal

A Peck o' Trouble

Taxi, Mister

The Diamond Queen

Behave Yourself!

Why Girls Leave Home

Here Come the Nelsons

Somewhere in the Night

Trocadero

Married Bachelor

Top Secret

Gambler's Choice

Radio Stars on Parade

If You Knew Susie

My Mummy's Arms

Timber Queen

Daughter of the Jungle

Alias a Gentleman

Money from Home

The Islander

Private Nurse

City Without Men

The Iroquois Trail

Ouanga

Uncertain Glory

Madonna of the Desert

Klondike Kate

Pierre of the Plains

Buy Me That Town

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter

Come Fill the Cup

Harvest Melody

Captain Kidd

Color Adjustment

River Gang

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

The Gentleman Misbehaves

The Making of 'It's a Wonderful Life'

The Fabulous Joe

Shep Comes Home