Leonard Stone | |
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_(cropped).JPG) Leonard Stone in 1967 | |
| Born | Leonard Steinbock (1923-11-03)November 3, 1923 Salem, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | November 2, 2011(2011-11-02) (aged 87) Encinitas, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Willamette University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1956–2006 |
Leonard Stone (néSteinbock; November 3, 1923 – November 2, 2011[1]) was an Americancharacter actor who played supporting roles in over 120 television shows and 35 films.
Stone was born inSalem, Oregon,[2] the son of Jewish parents Julia Marguerite (née Easton) and Albert Michael Steinbock.
He was a graduate ofSalem High School.[3] He majored in speech and drama atWillamette University, graduatingcum laude.[4]
He was amidshipman during training with theU.S. Navy, going on to serve as "skipper on aminesweeper in Japanese waters".[5]
Stone started his career as a young actor studying at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art inLondon[4] He performed in theWest End, onBroadway, and toured the world. He traveled for eight years in Australia and New Zealand with the musicalSouth Pacific.[6]
In 1959, he won theTony Award for Best Supporting Actor inRedhead,[7] aBob Fosse musical. He also was in theTony Award-nominated cast ofLook Homeward, Angel in 1957, which premiered at theEthel Barrymore Theater in New York. The play, based on theThomas Wolfe novel, won thePulitzer Prize.[8]
One of Stone's more notable film roles came in 1971, when he playedMr. Beauregarde, the father of Golden Ticket winnerViolet Beauregarde (played byDenise Nickerson), inWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.[9] He was the last surviving adult character who toured the factory in the movie, butDiana Sowle, who played Mrs. Bucket, was still alive at the time of his death.[10] In 1973'sSoylent Green, he played Charles, the manager of the building where the murdered character portrayed byJoseph Cotten lived.[11]
In 1956, Stone appeared in a minor role as a crew member on theRMS Titanic in a TV adaptation ofWalter Lord's bookA Night to Remember.[12]
He was the bartender inThe Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), and a congressman inThe Man (1972), which starredJames Earl Jones as the first Black president of the United States. He appeared in theJerry Lewis vehicleThe Big Mouth in 1967.[13] Other films he appeared in includeThe Mugger (1958),A Man Called Dagger (1968),Angel in My Pocket (1969),Zig Zag (1970),Getting Straight (1970),I Love My Wife (1970),Mame (1974), andThe Man from Independence (1974).[14]
Stone appeared in the TV moviesThe Ghost of Sierra de Cobra (1964),A Step Out of Line (1971),Terror in the Sky (1971),Beg, Borrow or Steal (1973),The Runaways (1975),The Girl in the Empty Grave (1977),The Other Side of Hell (1978),Zuma Beach (1978),See Arnold Run (2005), andSurrender, Dorothy (2006).
Between 1961 and 1985, Stone appeared in dozens of popular American television series, includingPeter Gunn,The Untouchables,Gunsmoke (five times),The Rifleman (twice),The Defenders,The Real McCoys (twice),The Outer Limits,Dr. Kildare (twice),McHale's Navy,Rawhide (twice),The F.B.I.,The Doris Day Show,The High Chaparral,Lost in Space (twice),Gomer Pyle: USMC (twice),Dragnet 1967 (five times),The Partridge Family,Nanny and the Professor,Mod Squad,The Virginian,Love, American Style (twice),The Waltons,Mission: Impossible (three times),Adam-12,Barney Miller (five times),Hawaii Five-O,Ironside (three times),Kojak,Mannix (four times),Police Story (twice),Cannon,The Blue Knight,The Bob Newhart Show,Sanford and Son,M*A*S*H,Eight Is Enough,The Six Million Dollar Man,All in the Family,The Dukes of Hazzard,General Hospital,One Day at a Time,Quincy M.E. (four times),Cagney & Lacey,Alice (four times),Night Court,Hill Street Blues (twice),Falcon Crest (three times),Simon & Simon, andL.A. Law (10 times).[6]
In 1961 and 1962, Stone was cast twice in different roles onThe Real McCoys in the episodes "Money from Heaven" and "You Can't Beat the Army". Between 1962 and 1966, Stone made four guest appearances onPerry Mason, including his season-six, 1962 role as murderer Jerel Leland in "The Case of the Hateful Hero".[15]
Stone played Farnum the Great in two episodes ofLost in Space (1965-1968).[16]: 624 [16]: 527 . He appeared twice onThe Donna Reed Show, as Mr. Trestle in "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys" (1961) and as Harlan Carmody, Jr., in "Joe College" (1965). In the 1965–1966 season, he appeared as Doc Joslyn onCamp Runamuck.[16] In 1967, he had the role of Judge Gilroy inCimarron Strip.[16]: 188 In 1971, Stone appeared as Tom Wagner onThe Men from Shiloh (rebranded name forThe Virginian) in the episode titled "The Town Killer".[citation needed]
Between 1988 and 1994, he was cast as Judge Paul Hansen in 10 episodes ofL.A. Law.[17]
On September 22, 2000, he appeared on an episode ofWheel of Fortune.
Stone's final role came in 2006 at the age of 83, when he played a minor character in the TV movieSurrender Dorothy.[18]
Stone died on November 2. 2011, in Encinitas, California, just one day before his 88th birthday,[19] after suffering a brief bout with cancer.[20]
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