Person Details

Birthday: 1907-02-22 00:02:40

Death: 1997-01-10 00:02:40

Aliases: S.L. Bershad , S. L. Bershad

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Manhattan, New York, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 46

TV Involvements: 35


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

Murder, She Wrote
Average
8

Murder, She Wrote

(1984) Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski
Burke's Law
Average
6

Burke's Law

(1963) 'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski
Matlock
Average
7

Matlock

(1986) Casino Tipster
It's a Wonderful Life
Average
8

It's a Wonderful Life

(1946) Nick
The Bob Hope Show
Average
8

The Bob Hope Show

(1950) Self
I Spy
Average
7

I Spy

(1965) Disc Jockey
To Have and Have Not
Average
7

To Have and Have Not

(1945) Lt. Coyo
Sinbad the Sailor
Average
6

Sinbad the Sailor

(1947) Auctioneer

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2011 Himself
1992 Self
1990 Self (archival footage)
N/A
1988 Self (archive footage)
1986 Casino Tipster
1984 Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski
N/A
1982 N/A
1979 N/A
1978 J. Edgar Hoover
Paul Lazaro
Carl Vitale
1975 N/A
1973 Self
1972 N/A
1969 N/A
1967 Self
1965 Disc Jockey
1964 N/A
N/A
1963 Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone
'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski
1962 Sheldon Leonard
Self
1961 Steve Darcey
Big Max Calvada
1959 Self
1957 Self
1955 Harry the Horse
George
1954 Sam Marco
1953 Jumbo Schneider
Mogul
Dodsworth (voice)
N/A
1952 Lefty
Nick Sampson
Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)
Rodwell 'Brick' Davis
Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)
Duke
1951 Lennie Garr
Harry Martin (uncredited)
Shortwave Bert
Boots Morgan
1950 Elevator Tout
Self
Chief Ogane
Self
1949 Detective Pacciano
Grimes
Dalton Kraik
1948 'Swifty' Lewis
Hermon
Lippy Harris
Nick Julian
Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli
Steve Garland
Harry Bealer
1947 Cornell
Louie
Fred Stalk
Auctioneer
1946 Nick
Sergeant Joe Portugal
Ed 'Wires' MacGuire
Ace Deuce Baker
Sam
Felix Bender
Kirby Haynes
Trigger Stazzi
1945 'Blackie' Shoulders
Cyprian Boyle
Chris Williams
Peg Leg
Lucky Maddox
Ace Miller
Capt. Ferrone
Lt. Coyo
1944 Louie Buchanan
Chappie Wilson
Mickey Jones
Henri Duval
Smacksie Golden
1943 'Sometime' Smith
Chuck
Johnny Booth
Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost
Monk LaRue
1942 Slip Moran
Joe Marruci
Clairou
Tito Ralph
Pete Detroit
1941 Menace
Boris
Johnny Brannigan
Chink Moran
John Winton
Pretty Willie Williams
1939 Phil Church
1935 LeStrange, the Overseer
1934 Pasha
Abdullah
Year Character Movie/Tv

Production

Directing

Creator

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1952 Writer
1945 Story
Year Role Movie/Tv

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