Peter Leeds

Peter Leeds (May 30, 1917 – November 12, 1996) was an American actor, who appeared on television more than 8,000 times[1] and also had many film, Broadway, and radio credits. The majority of his work took place in the 1950s and 1960s. Working with many well-known comedians, he became popular as a straight man to their antics.

Peter Leeds
Leeds (right) in Bonanza
Born	(1917-05-30)May 30, 1917 Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	November 12, 1996(1996-11-12) (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1941–1996
Spouse(s)	Patricia Leeds (1962–1996)

Beyond situation comedies, Peter Leeds was also a dramatic actor, a Broadway performer, and a regular on many variety shows. He made three guest appearances on Perry Mason.

Peter Leeds was also a popular voice-over artist, being heard on over 3,000 radio shows.

Early life

A native of Bayonne, New Jersey, Leeds received his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his film debut with a bit part in Public Enemies (1941). He received a scholarship from the John Marshall Law School, which he attended for one year. He also attended The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. Leeds was noticed by the Group Theater of New York, through which he received a scholarship and graduated.

Career

Leeds worked with hundreds of well-known actors, including Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, and Johnny Carson. He appeared four times with David Janssen in the crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Leeds was cast as George Colton in nine episodes of the 1960s CBS sitcom, Pete and Gladys,[2]^:826 starring Harry Morgan and Cara Williams. He guest-starred on an episode of the 1962-1963 ABC drama series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly.

Leeds was known for his association with Stan Freberg and played his foil in several song parodies. In addition, he had several roles on both Volume One and Volume Two of the classic comedy albums Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, and also appeared as a regular on the short-lived CBS radio series The Stan Freberg Show in 1957.

Leeds had a recurring role as gambler/saloon owner Tenner Smith in the 1957-1959 CBS television series, Trackdown starring Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, with Ellen Corby in a secondary role as newspaper publisher Henrietta Porter.[3]

Leeds played federal agent LaMarr Kane[2] in "The Scarface Mob", the pilot for ABC's The Untouchables TV series (starring Robert Stack), a role taken over in the actual series by Chuck Hicks. He was a member of the casts of the 1958 version of The Betty White Show[2]^:94 and The Buster Keaton Show [2]^:148, and made an appearance on Batman (TV show) (year two, episodes 29 and 30).

USO tours

Leeds accompanied Bob Hope on 14 international USO (United Service Organizations) tours.[4] Leeds joined Bob Hope in 1954 for a television special and continued working with Hope on specials and tours from 1954 until 1991.[5]

Voice work

Leeds also did voices for animated television and film, including The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, Hong Kong Phooey, The New Yogi Bear Show, The Dukes, Challenge of the GoBots, CBS Storybreak and The Jetsons. It is important to note that Leeds was a member of Stan Freberg's CBS radio program, "The Stan Freberg Show" along with Freberg, Daws Butler and June Foray. This was the last radio comedy show made by CBS in the summer-fall of 1957.

Broadway

Leeds appeared on Broadway in Sugar Babies along with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller.[6]

Personal life

Leeds and his wife of 34 years, Pat Leeds, had a son, Dr. Michael Leeds.[7] Leeds died of cancer at the age of 79, on November 12, 1996 in Los Angeles, California.[1]

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

During the 1970s, Leeds spent five years as the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).[1] He later served on the actors' union's national and local Board of Directors. In 1992, AFTRA repaid his many years of service with its highest honor, the Gold Card. Leeds later served on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1941	Public Enemies	Reporter
1941	Pacific Blackout	Air Raid Warden	Uncredited
1942	Don Winslow of the Navy	Seaman Chapman	Serial
1942	Treat 'Em Rough	Davis
1942	Priorities on Parade	Joe - Factory Employee / Show Coordinator	Uncredited
1942	The Secret Code	Henchman Carl Hiecke	Serial, [Ch. 9]
1942	I Married a Witch	Ambulance Attendant	Uncredited
1942	Reunion in France	Boy	Uncredited
1943	Lady Bodyguard	Intern	Uncredited
1943	Crash Dive	Shore Police	Uncredited
1946	That Brennan Girl	Bergie	Uncredited
1947	Hit Parade of 1947	Bandleader in Rehearsal Room	Uncredited
1949	The Life of Riley	Conway's Voice on Radio Show	Voice, Uncredited
1949	The Lady Gambles	Jack Harrison - Hotel Clerk
1949	D.O.A.	Leo - Bartender	Uncredited
1950	Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town	Tall Beautician	Uncredited
1950	South Sea Sinner	Second Policeman	Uncredited
1950	Saddle Tramp	Springer
1950	Dial 1119	Martin, Wounded Policeman	Uncredited
1951	Up Front	Pinanski	Uncredited
1951	Katie Did It	'Odds' Burton
1951	Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm	Manson
1951	The Frogmen	Pharmacist's Mate	Uncredited
1952	My Man and I	Man with Nancy at Bar	Uncredited
1952	Come Back, Little Sheba	Milkman	Uncredited
1953	Never Wave at a WAC	Nick Laharis	Uncredited
1953	Stalag 17	Barracks #1 Prisoner of War Getting Distillery	Uncredited
1953	99 River Street	Nat Finley
1954	The Long, Long Trailer	Garage Manager	Uncredited
1954	Playgirl	Sharpie	Uncredited
1954	Brigadoon	Peter - Headwaiter	Uncredited
1954	The Adventures of Hajji Baba	Merchant	Uncredited
1954	Athena	Photographer	Uncredited
1954	The Last Time I Saw Paris	Barney
1954	The Atomic Kid	Agent Bill
1955	Six Bridges to Cross	Harris	Uncredited
1955	Hit the Deck	Lieutenant - Operation Mud Pie	Uncredited
1955	Tight Spot	Fred Packer
1955	Interrupted Melody	Dr. Ed Ryson
1955	Love Me or Leave Me	Fred Taylor
1955	It's Always Fair Weather	Mr. Trasker	Uncredited
1955	Bobby Ware Is Missing	Mackey of F.B.I.
1955	I'll Cry Tomorrow	Richard
1956	The Price of Fear	Mitchell	Uncredited
1956	The Harder They Fall	Dundee Fight Ring Announcer	Uncredited
1956	Behind the High Wall	First Detective
1956	Tea and Sympathy	Headmaster at Bonfire	Uncredited
1956	The Best Things in Life Are Free	Genius	Uncredited
1956	The Great American Pastime	Motor Cop	Uncredited
1957	Slander	Herb Goodman	Uncredited
1957	Official Detective	Patterson	Episode: "The Deserted House"
1957	Bombers B-52	TV Quiz Show Director	Uncredited
1957	Kiss Them for Me	Reporter in Nightclub	Uncredited
1958	The Brothers Karamazov	Guard	Uncredited
1959	The Scarface Mob	Lamarr Kane	TV movie
1958-1959	Trackdown	Tenner Smith	recurring role, 15 episodes
1959	High School Big Shot	Mr. Carter
1959	The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock	Bill Burton
1959	The Devil's Disciple	Narrator	Uncredited
1959	The Big Operator	Henland	Uncredited
1959	Girls Town	Michael Clyde
1959	The Rookie	Seville Quare
1960	Please Don't Eat the Daisies	Mackay's Secretary	Uncredited
1960	The Facts of Life	Thompson - the Dry Cleaner
1963	The Wheeler Dealers	Arthur Watkins
1965	I'll Take Sweden	Car Salesman	Uncredited
1965	Harlow	Parker
1966	The Oscar	Bert
1966	The Bob Hope Vietnam Christmas Show	Actor
1967	8 on the Lam	Marty
1968	With Six You Get Eggroll	Police Officer Joelson	Uncredited
1972-1974	Adam-12	George Porter / Dennis Baker	2 episodes
1974	The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat	Juan / Various Characters	Voice
1987	Dragnet	Roy Grest

References

1. "Straight man actor, Peter Leeds, dies". The Spokesman-Review. Washington, Spokane. Los Angeles Times. November 22, 1996. p. A2. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
2. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 1132.
3. Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), p. 104
4. "Noted Actor Will Speak To Red Cross". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. May 21, 1966. p. 15. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
5. IMDb Peter Leeds Bio
6. "Sugar Babies". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
7. Turner Classic Movies

External links

• Peter Leeds on IMDb
• Peter Leeds at the Internet Broadway Database