Leonard Frey

Leonard Frey (September 4, 1938 – August 24, 1988) was an American actor born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. After completing his secondary education at James Madison High School, he initially pursued visual art at Cooper Union with the intention of becoming a painter before redirecting his focus to acting. He trained at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner and went on to build a career across theater, film, and television spanning more than two decades.

Frey made his stage debut in an Off-Broadway production of Little Mary Sunshine. His Off-Broadway work gained significant attention in 1968 when he originated the role of Harold in The Boys in the Band, earning critical recognition for that performance. He subsequently appeared in the 1970 film adaptation of the same production, directed by William Friedkin. His Broadway career ran from 1964 to 1980 and included productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, in which he played Mendel, the rabbi's son. Stage credits from this period also encompassed revivals of The Time of Your Life (1969), Beggar on Horseback (1970), Twelfth Night (1972), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1980), as well as the play Dr. Knock and the comedy Twelfth Night. He also played Clare Quilty in the Alan Jay Lerner musical Lolita, My Love, which closed prior to reaching Broadway in 1971.

Frey received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1975 for his performance in The National Health. That same year, his film work earned parallel recognition: he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Motel the tailor in Norman Jewison's 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. Additional film appearances included The Magic Christian (1969), Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), Up the Academy (1980), and Tattoo (1981).

His television work was extensive and included appearances on Hallmark Hall of Fame, Medical Center, Mission: Impossible, Eight Is Enough, Quincy M.E., Hart to Hart, Barney Miller, Moonlighting, and Murder, She Wrote, as well as the miniseries Testimony of Two Men. He held a co-starring role as Parker Tillman on the short-lived ABC western comedy Best of the West and played Raymond Holyoke in the NBC series Mr. Smith, which ran for thirteen episodes in fall 1983. On February 22, 1975, he appeared in The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcaster's School" as a character identified as "The Student." He also served as a panelist on the game shows Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, Body Language, and Super Password. His final screen role was Walter Witherspoon in the television movie Bride of Boogedy.

Frey died on August 24, 1988, in New York from complications of AIDS, eleven days before his fiftieth birthday.