Sheldon Leonard makes a quiet threat sound like ordinary business. We value the economy of his supporting performances, though the gangster casting became repetitive; his later work in television gave him more to do than the films usually allowed.
Fi1m perspective
Sheldon Leonard speaks out of the side of his mouth, and the thick New York accent does much of the introduction. We rate him as a supporting actor who makes menace easy to read without demanding that a scene stop for it. His film debut, as the soft-spoken murder suspect Phil Church in Another Thin Man (1939), established the pattern. Repeated gangster casting kept that skill employed through the 1950s, but gave it few opportunities to develop.
In Howard Hawks's To Have and Have Not (1944), he plays Lt. Coyo, one of his early heavies. The casting draws on his capacity for quiet menace, while Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall supply the film's chief pleasure. We were charmed because Hawks gives the pair time to enjoy one another rather than hurrying them through the adventure. That adventure occasionally lacks urgency, but a supporting heavy cannot be expected to set the pace of the whole film.
Guys and Dolls (1955) gives that familiar presence a more natural home in Harry the Horse. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's musical has a ready use for a performer whose accent and quiet menace suit Damon Runyon's gangsters. Here the recognisability helps: Leonard fits a company in which criminals can be funny without ceasing to sound like criminals. The film talks too much and takes its time, and Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine supply the feeling that makes us forgive it. We recommend it warmly, but Leonard is part of the pleasure rather than the whole explanation.
From the mid-1950s, producing and directing television became his main work, often in partnership with Danny Thomas. The actor repeatedly cast to suggest danger helped build character-led sitcoms, including The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). His insistence on recasting Carl Reiner's Head of the Family with Dick Van Dyke was a more consequential use of his judgement than another gangster part. Familiarity could become blandness, a complaint critics made about The Danny Thomas Show (1953) and related programmes. For the actor, start with Guys and Dolls, where knowing roughly what to expect from him is part of the enjoyment.
Biography
Sheldon Leonard, born Sheldon Leonard Bershad, was an American actor, producer, director and writer. He specialised in supporting roles as gangsters or heavies in films including Another Thin Man (1939), To Have and Have Not (1944) as Lt. Coyo, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) as Nick the bartender, Guys and Dolls (1955) as Harry the Horse and Pocketful of Miracles (1961).
After graduating from Syracuse University in 1929, Leonard began in theatre before establishing himself in Hollywood. He also appeared on radio, notably as a racetrack tout on The Jack Benny Program from 1945 to 1955.
From the mid-1950s he worked extensively in television as a producer and director, with credits including The Danny Thomas Show (1953–64), The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) and I Spy (1965–68). He continued occasional acting roles into the 1990s, including on Cheers (1982).
