Sheldon Leonard

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  • group Other Names:
    S.L. Bershad, S. L. Bershad, Sheldon Leonard Bershad

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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.

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1907-02-22
  • event Death Date 1997-01-10
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 5.2
  • info Birth Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by Sheldon Leonard

7.3

Pocketful of Miracles

1961-12-18

8.3

It's a Wonderful Life

1946-12-20

5.9

Decoy

1946-09-14

6.6

Guys and Dolls

1955-12-23

5.1

Zombies on Broadway

1945-05-01

5.4

Take One False Step

1949-08-14

6.5

My Dream Is Yours

1949-04-15

7.5

To Have and Have Not

1945-01-20

6

The Brink's Job

1978-12-08

4.7

The Gangster

1947-11-25

6.4

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

1951-04-12

5.9

Hit the Ice

1943-06-02

4.2

Crime, Inc.

1945-04-15

7.2

Another Thin Man

1939-11-17

5.3

Street of Chance

1942-10-03

5.2

Violence

1947-05-09

5.9

Sinbad the Sailor

1947-01-13

6

The Falcon in Hollywood

1944-12-08

6.6

Week-End in Havana

1941-10-17

5.8

Her Kind of Man

1946-05-11

6

Rise and Shine

1941-11-21

6.5

Open Secret

1948-02-14

4.7

The Last Crooked Mile

1946-08-09

4.7

Jinx Money

1948-06-27

5.4

Tall, Dark and Handsome

1941-01-24

0

Stop, You're Killing Me

1952-12-10

5.4

Tortilla Flat

1942-05-21

5

Born to Sing

1942-02-18

6

Bowery Bombshell

1946-07-20

6.3

Sock a Doodle Do

1952-05-09

10

Sheldon Leonard's Wonderful Life

2011-01-01

0

The Gem of the Ocean

1934-11-19

5.7

Passport to Suez

1943-08-19

4

Rainbow Over Texas

1946-05-09

4.5

Young Man with Ideas

1952-05-02

6.1

Kiddin' the Kitten

1952-04-05

6

Breakdown

1952-07-16

6

Lucky Jordan

1942-11-16

4.4

Frontier Gal

1945-12-14

5.4

A Peck o' Trouble

1953-03-27

3

Taxi, Mister

1943-04-16

0

The Diamond Queen

1953-11-28

6

Behave Yourself!

1951-09-22

5

Why Girls Leave Home

1945-10-09

6

Here Come the Nelsons

1952-02-23

6.7

Somewhere in the Night

1946-06-12

5.4

Trocadero

1944-04-24

5.8

Married Bachelor

1941-10-16

0

Top Secret

1978-06-04

6

Gambler's Choice

1944-04-27

0

Radio Stars on Parade

1945-08-01

7.5

If You Knew Susie

1948-02-07

0

My Mummy's Arms

1934-06-28

5.7

Timber Queen

1944-01-13

4.3

Daughter of the Jungle

1949-02-08

6.5

Alias a Gentleman

1948-02-03

5.7

Money from Home

1953-12-31

0

The Islander

1978-09-16

0

Private Nurse

1941-08-22

5

City Without Men

1943-01-14

5.8

The Iroquois Trail

1950-06-15

5

Ouanga

1935-12-03

6.6

Uncertain Glory

1944-04-07

6

Madonna of the Desert

1948-02-23

5.7

Klondike Kate

1943-12-16

4.2

Pierre of the Plains

1942-07-29

6

Buy Me That Town

1941-10-03

0

It's Always Sunday

0

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter

2020-01-01

7

Come Fill the Cup

1951-10-24

4

Harvest Melody

1943-11-22

6

Captain Kidd

1945-11-22

6.9

Color Adjustment

1992-01-29

0

River Gang

1945-09-21

6

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All

1948-09-19

6

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

1988-11-22

0

The Gentleman Misbehaves

1946-02-28

6

The Making of 'It's a Wonderful Life'

1990-10-18

5.8

The Fabulous Joe

1947-08-28

6

Shep Comes Home

1948-12-03

7.6

Murder, She Wrote

1984-09-30

7.6

Cheers

1982-09-30

6

Burke's Law

1963-09-20

5.5

My World and Welcome to It

1969-09-15

7

The Colgate Comedy Hour

1950-09-10

7.1

The Facts of Life

1979-08-24

7

The Cosby Show

1984-09-20

7.4

The Dick Van Dyke Show

1961-10-03

7.1

The Lucy Show

1962-10-01

7.2

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

1964-09-25

8

I Love Lucy

1951-10-15

5.3

The Merv Griffin Show

1962-10-01

7.5

Sanford and Son

1972-01-14

5

The David Susskind Show

1959-01-18

6

Linus the Lionhearted

1964-09-26

5.5

General Electric Theater

1953-02-01

6.5

I Spy

1965-09-15

6.5

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

1967-09-09

5.7

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

1957-07-29

0

Big Eddie

1975-08-23

6.5

Screen Director's Playhouse

1955-10-05

5.3

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

1973-09-14

0

The Duke

1954-07-02

7

The Bob Hope Show

1950-04-09

7.6

The Jack Benny Program

1950-10-28

6

Burke's Law

1963-09-20

7.2

Matlock

1986-03-03

6.2

The Danny Thomas Show

1953-09-29

7.6

The Jack Benny Program

1950-10-28

4.9

The Mike Douglas Show

1961-12-11

6.9

Dream On

1990-07-08

7.4

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962-10-01

6.7

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

1950-10-12

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