Lu Leonard

Lu Leonard, born Mary Lou Price on June 5, 1926, in Long Beach, New York, was an American character actress whose career spanned theatre, television, and film across several decades. She was the daughter of stage and screen actor Hal Price, who was notable for his work with Republic Pictures. Leonard made her first stage appearance at one month old alongside her vaudevillian parents, and she later wrote a play about them titled Goodrick and Price.

Leonard's Broadway career ran from 1955 to 1965 and encompassed a range of musical productions. Her credits included The Happiest Girl in the World, The Gay Life, Bravo Giovanni, Drat! The Cat!, and Man of La Mancha. Beyond Broadway, she participated in national touring productions of Plain and Fancy, Oliver!, and Man of La Mancha.

Her television work began in the early 1950s, with an early role as Theodosia in the sitcom The Life of Riley. Her first notable film appearance came as the wife of Three Stooges member Larry Fine in Husbands Beware. In the late 1960s, she played the singing Angel Scribe II in the Hallmark television musical special The Littlest Angel. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Leonard appeared on numerous television series, including Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, The Facts of Life, Knight Rider, and Married with Children. She also played Aunt Grace in Roseanne Barr's 1987 HBO comedy special The Roseanne Barr Show, and held a recurring role as William Conrad's wisecracking secretary in Jake and the Fatman.

In 1982, Leonard appeared in the film Annie as Oliver Warbucks' maid, Mrs. Pugh, a role for which she became particularly well known. She also had small roles in the films Starman and Micki and Maude. Additional voice work included the Hanna-Barbera animated series Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures in 1990, and she played Mrs. Chang in the 1990 live-action television film Aladdin.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Leonard built a regional following in the Los Angeles theatre circuit through her portrayal of a lesbian head matron in the play Women Behind Bars. She never married or had children. Health problems, including diabetes, led her to leave Hollywood in 1995, and she relocated primarily to Oregon before eventually moving into the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California. Leonard died of a heart attack on May 14, 2004, at the age of 77. A bench in the Roddy McDowall garden at the Motion Picture Country Home has been dedicated in her memory.