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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.
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as Don Monteleoni(1 ep)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self - Interviewee (archive footage)(1 ep)
as Casino Tipster(1 ep)
as Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski(1 ep)
as Dr. Wexler(1 ep)
as Sid Nelson(1 ep)
as J. Edgar Hoover
as Paul Lazaro
as Carl Vitale
as Self(1 ep)
as Self(1 ep)
as Self (uncredited)(4 eps)
as Self(1 ep)
as Disc Jockey
as Linus (voice)(3 eps)
as Norman Miles(1 ep)
as Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone(1 ep)
as 'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski(1 ep)
as Sheldon Leonard(1 ep)
as Self(2 eps)
as Self(3 eps)
as Steve Darcey
as Self(4 eps)
as Big Max Calvada(1 ep)
as Floyd B. Bariscale (voice) (uncredited)(1 ep)
as Self(1 ep)
as Self(1 ep)
as Harry the Horse
as George(1 ep)
as Sam Marco(1 ep)
as Jumbo Schneider
as Mogul
as Gus(1 ep)
as Phil Brokaw(2 eps)
as Dodsworth (voice)
as Lefty
as Hardwick Harris(1 ep)
as Nick Sampson
as Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)
as Rodwell 'Brick' Davis
as Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)
as Duke
as Lennie Garr
as Harry Martin (uncredited)(1 ep)
as Shortwave Bert
as Boots Morgan
as Elevator Tout(1 ep)
as Racetrack Tout(2 eps)
as Tombstone Harry(1 ep)
as Bobby Darin's Agent (uncredited)(1 ep)
as Johnny Velvet(2 eps)
as Silky Thompson(2 eps)
as Self(3 eps)
as Chief Ogane
as Self(1 ep)
as Detective Pacciano
as Grimes
as Dalton Kraik
as 'Swifty' Lewis
as Hermon
as Lippy Harris
as Nick Julian
as Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli
as Steve Garland
as Harry Bealer
as Cornell
as Louie
as Fred Stalk
as Auctioneer
as Nick
as Sergeant Joe Portugal
as Ed 'Wires' MacGuire
as Ace Deuce Baker
as Sam
as Felix Bender
as Kirby Haynes
as Trigger Stazzi
as 'Blackie' Shoulders
as Cyprian Boyle
as Chris Williams
as Peg Leg
as Lucky Maddox
as Ace Miller
as Capt. Ferrone
as Lt. Coyo
as Louie Buchanan
as Chappie Wilson
as Mickey Jones
as Henri Duval
as Smacksie Golden
as 'Sometime' Smith
as Chuck
as Johnny Booth
as Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
as Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost
as Monk LaRue
as Slip Moran
as Joe Marruci
as Clairou
as Tito Ralph
as Pete Detroit
as Menace
as Boris
as Johnny Brannigan
as Chink Moran
as John Winton
as Pretty Willie Williams
as Phil Church
as LeStrange, the Overseer
as Pasha
as Abdullah
