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Born · February 22, 1907
Died · January 10, 1997 (89 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
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.
Self (archive footage)
0.0
2020
Self
10.0
2011
Self
6.9
1992
Self
6.0
1990
Don Monteleoni · (1 episode)
6.9
1990
Self (archive footage)
6.0
1988
Casino Tipster · (1 episode)
7.1
1986
Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski · (1 episode)
7.5
1984
Dr. Wexler · (1 episode)
7.0
1984
Sid Nelson · (1 episode)
7.6
1982
(1 episode)
7.0
1979
J. Edgar Hoover
6.0
1978
Paul Lazaro
0.0
1978
Carl Vitale
0.0
1978
(10 episodes)
0.0
1975
Self · (1 episode)
6.5
1974
Self · (1 episode)
5.4
1973
(3 episodes)
7.5
1972
(2 episodes)
5.5
1969
Self · (5 episodes)
6.5
1968
Disc Jockey · (0 episode)
6.3
1965
Linus (voice) · (3 episodes)
6.7
1964
Norman Miles · (1 episode)
7.1
1964
Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone · (1 episode)
6.0
1963
'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski · (1 episode)
6.0
1963
Sheldon Leonard · (1 episode)
7.0
1962
Self · (2 episodes)
5.6
1962
Self · (3 episodes)
7.4
1962
Steve Darcey
7.3
1961
Self · (4 episodes)
5.1
1961
Big Max Calvada · (1 episode)
7.4
1961
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
1959
Self · (1 episode)
6.5
1957
Harry the Horse
6.6
1955
George · (1 episode)
6.5
1955
Sam Marco · (1 episode)
0.0
1954
Jumbo Schneider
5.8
1953
Mogul
0.0
1953
Gus · (1 episode)
6.0
1953
Dodsworth (voice)
5.6
1953
(2 episodes)
6.0
1953
Lefty
5.0
1952
Nick Sampson
6.0
1952
Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)
6.3
1952
Rodwell 'Brick' Davis
4.7
1952
Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)
6.2
1952
Duke
6.0
1952
Lennie Garr
7.0
1951
Harry Martin (uncredited) · (1 episode)
7.9
1951
Shortwave Bert
6.1
1951
Boots Morgan
6.4
1951
Elevator Tout · (1 episode)
7.7
1950
Racetrack Tout · (2 episodes)
7.7
1950
Tombstone Harry · (1 episode)
7.7
1950
Bobby Darin's Agent (uncredited) · (1 episode)
7.7
1950
Johnny Velvet · (2 episodes)
6.8
1950
Silky Thompson · (2 episodes)
6.8
1950
Self · (3 episodes)
7.0
1950
Chief Ogane
5.8
1950
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
1950
Detective Pacciano
5.5
1949
Grimes
6.5
1949
Dalton Kraik
4.3
1949
'Swifty' Lewis
6.0
1948
Hermon
6.0
1948
Lippy Harris
4.7
1948
Nick Julian
6.0
1948
Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli
6.5
1948
Steve Garland
7.5
1948
Harry Bealer
6.5
1948
Cornell
4.8
1947
Louie
5.8
1947
Fred Stalk
5.2
1947
Auctioneer
5.9
1947
Nick
8.3
1946
Sergeant Joe Portugal
5.9
1946
Ed 'Wires' MacGuire
4.7
1946
Ace Deuce Baker
6.0
1946
Sam
6.7
1946
Felix Bender
5.8
1946
Kirby Haynes
4.0
1946
Trigger Stazzi
0.0
1946
'Blackie' Shoulders
4.4
1945
Cyprian Boyle
6.0
1945
Chris Williams
5.0
1945
Peg Leg
0.0
1945
Lucky Maddox
0.0
1945
Ace Miller
5.1
1945
Capt. Ferrone
4.2
1945
Lt. Coyo
7.5
1945
Louie Buchanan
6.0
1944
Chappie Wilson
6.0
1944
Mickey Jones
5.4
1944
Henri Duval
6.6
1944
Smacksie Golden
5.7
1944
'Sometime' Smith
5.7
1943
Chuck
4.0
1943
Johnny Booth
5.7
1943
Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
5.9
1943
Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost
4.3
1943
Monk LaRue
5.0
1943
Slip Moran
6.0
1942
Joe Marruci
5.3
1942
Clairou
4.2
1942
Tito Ralph
5.4
1942
Pete Detroit
5.0
1942
Menace
6.0
1941
Boris
6.6
1941
Johnny Brannigan
5.8
1941
Chink Moran
6.0
1941
John Winton
0.0
1941
Pretty Willie Williams
5.4
1941
Phil Church
7.1
1939
LeStrange, the Overseer
5.0
1935
Pasha
0.0
1934
Abdullah
0.0
1934
George
0.0