Leonard Elliott

Leonard Elliott, born Leonard Elliott Gothelf on November 23, 1905, in New York City, was an American actor and comedian whose career spanned the stage, film, and television. He died on December 31, 1989, at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers at the age of 84.

Elliott launched his performing career in nightclubs and vaudeville during the 1920s, and he continued working as a nightclub performer in Manhattan for five decades. His Broadway debut came in 1938, when he played Bomboski in Right This Way, a musical written by Brad Greene and Fabian Storey that also featured Joe E. Lewis and Joey Ray. Over the following two decades, Elliott appeared in eight Broadway productions in total. In 1939 he took on the role of Judas in Family Portrait, written by Lenore Coffee and William Joyce Cowen, alongside Judith Anderson. He portrayed Touchstone in a 1941 production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, and in 1944 he played Sinbad in Clay Warnick's musical Dream With Music. The following year he appeared as Francis in George Marion, Jr. and Karl Farkas's Marinka. In 1946 he played Covielle in a production of Molière's The Would-Be Gentleman featuring Bobby Clark, and in 1948 he appeared as Boris in Albert Wineman Barker's Grandma's Diary. His final Broadway credit was Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz's The Gay Life, in which he played Franz during its 1961–1962 run. Beyond Broadway, Elliott also performed in light operas and musicals in summer stock.

Elliott's film career began in 1940 with the Yiddish production Overture to Glory, in which he played Tilchinski, an orchestra conductor. In 1941 he appeared as Henry in the Abbott and Costello military musical comedy Buck Privates, and that same year he had roles in Bachelor Daddy, as Clark, and It Started with Eve, as Reverend Stebbins. Decades later he appeared as M. Henri in the 1970 film Diary of a Mad Housewife. He also had a role as Ken in the drama Weddings and Babies, which received the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1958.

On television, Elliott first appeared in 1948 in the title role of Captain Applejack for Kraft Television Theatre. He appeared twice on The Billy Rose Show in 1950–1951 and twice on Mister Peepers in 1952. In 1955 he portrayed Merlin in a television adaptation of the Rodgers and Hart musical A Connecticut Yankee, and that same year he appeared on Star Tonight. His subsequent television guest appearances included The Phil Silvers Show in 1957, Naked City in 1962, ABC Stage 67 in 1966, and Coronet Blue in 1967.