---
name: "Sheldon Leonard"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sheldon-leonard"
fi1m_id: "sheldon-leonard"
imdb_id: "nm0502766"
tmdb_id: 41750
wikidata_id: "Q1545340"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "22 February 1907"
died: "10 January 1997"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 85
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T07:10:53.065695+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sheldon Leonard

## Identity

Sheldon Leonard

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sheldon-leonard
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sheldon-leonard
- **IMDb ID:** nm0502766
- **TMDB ID:** 41750
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1545340
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Leonard, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1545340, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502766/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/41750

Actor. Born 22 February 1907 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Died 10 January 1997.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 22 February 1907, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 10 January 1997
- **Active:** 1945–1955
- **Also known as:** S.L. Bershad, S. L. Bershad, Sheldon Leonard Bershad
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 85, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 88 (2), 1950s 80 (1)
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Romance 2, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Crime 1, Drama 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $20m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Leonard, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1545340, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502766/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/41750

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Guys and Dolls*](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## 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).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Guys and Dolls* (1955), Fi1m 80, as Harry the Horse — [page](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md)
- *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946), Fi1m 91, as Nick — [page](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md)
- *To Have and Have Not* (1945), Fi1m 84, as Lt. Coyo — [page](https://film.one/film/to-have-and-have-not.md)

## Complete filmography (112)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Dream On* (1990), series, as Don Monteleoni
- *Matlock* (1986), series, as Casino Tipster
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Sgt. Bulldog Kowalski
- *The Cosby Show* (1984), series, as Dr. Wexler
- *Cheers* (1982), series, as Sid Nelson — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/cheers.md)
- *The Facts of Life* (1979), series, Actor
- *The Brink's Job* (1978), as J. Edgar Hoover
- *The Islander* (1978), as Paul Lazaro
- *Top Secret* (1978), as Carl Vitale · Executive Producer
- *Big Eddie* (1975), series, Actor
- *Shirley's World* (1972), series, Executive Producer
- *Sanford and Son* (1972), series, Actor
- *The Don Rickles Show* (1972), series, Producer
- *Make Room for Granddaddy* (1970), series, Director
- *From a Bird's Eye View* (1970), series, Producer, Creator
- *My World and Welcome to It* (1969), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *My Friend Tony* (1969), series, Producer
- *Accidental Family* (1967), series, Producer, Director
- *The Danny Thomas Hour* (1967), series, Director
- *Good Morning World* (1967), series, Producer, Executive Producer
- *I Spy* (1965), series, as Disc Jockey · Producer, Director
- *Linus the Lionhearted* (1964), series, as Linus (voice)
- *Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.* (1964), series, as Norman Miles · Director
- *My Favorite Martian* (1963), series, Director
- *The Bill Dana Show* (1963), series, Producer, Director
- *Burke's Law* (1963), series, as Ronald 'Touchy' Touchstone, 'Chicasaw Pete' Wickowski
- *The Lucy Show* (1962), series, as Sheldon Leonard
- *Pocketful of Miracles* (1961), as Steve Darcey
- *The Dick Van Dyke Show* (1961), series, as Big Max Calvada, Floyd B. Bariscale (voice) (uncredited) · Producer, Director
- *The Andy Griffith Show* (1960), series, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *The Real McCoys* (1957), series, Director
- *Guys and Dolls* (1955), as Harry the Horse — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md)
- *Screen Director's Playhouse* (1955), series, as George
- *Lassie* (1954), series, Director
- *The Duke* (1954), series, as Sam Marco
- *Money from Home* (1953), as Jumbo Schneider
- *The Diamond Queen* (1953), as Mogul
- *The Danny Thomas Show* (1953), series, as Gus, Phil Brokaw · Director
- *A Peck o' Trouble* (1953), as Dodsworth (voice)
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, Director, Teleplay
- *Stop, You're Killing Me* (1952), as Lefty
- *Your Jeweler's Showcase* (1952), series, as Hardwick Harris · Writer, Teleplay
- *Breakdown* (1952), as Nick Sampson
- *Sock a Doodle Do* (1952), as Kid Banty (voice) (uncredited)
- *Young Man with Ideas* (1952), as Rodwell 'Brick' Davis
- *Kiddin' the Kitten* (1952), as Dodsworth (voice) (uncredited)
- *Here Come the Nelsons* (1952), as Duke
- *Come Fill the Cup* (1951), as Lennie Garr
- *I Love Lucy* (1951), series, as Harry Martin (uncredited)
- *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, Director
- *Behave Yourself!* (1951), as Shortwave Bert
- *Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man* (1951), as Boots Morgan
- *The Jack Benny Program* (1950), series, as Elevator Tout, Racetrack Tout, Tombstone Harry, Bobby Darin's Agent (uncredited)
- *The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show* (1950), series, as Johnny Velvet, Silky Thompson
- *The Iroquois Trail* (1950), as Chief Ogane
- *Take One False Step* (1949), as Detective Pacciano
- *My Dream Is Yours* (1949), as Grimes
- *Daughter of the Jungle* (1949), as Dalton Kraik
- *Shep Comes Home* (1948), as 'Swifty' Lewis
- *Joe Palooka in Winner Take All* (1948), as Hermon
- *Jinx Money* (1948), as Lippy Harris
- *Madonna of the Desert* (1948), as Nick Julian
- *Open Secret* (1948), as Detective Sgt. Mike Frontelli
- *If You Knew Susie* (1948), as Steve Garland
- *Alias a Gentleman* (1948), as Harry Bealer
- *The Gangster* (1947), as Cornell
- *The Fabulous Joe* (1947), as Louie
- *Violence* (1947), as Fred Stalk
- *Sinbad the Sailor* (1947), as Auctioneer
- *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946), as Nick — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md)
- *Decoy* (1946), as Sergeant Joe Portugal
- *The Last Crooked Mile* (1946), as Ed 'Wires' MacGuire
- *Bowery Bombshell* (1946), as Ace Deuce Baker
- *Somewhere in the Night* (1946), as Sam
- *Her Kind of Man* (1946), as Felix Bender
- *Rainbow Over Texas* (1946), as Kirby Haynes
- *The Gentleman Misbehaves* (1946), as Trigger Stazzi
- *Frontier Gal* (1945), as 'Blackie' Shoulders
- *Captain Kidd* (1945), as Cyprian Boyle
- *Why Girls Leave Home* (1945), as Chris Williams
- *Shadow Of Terror* (1945), Story
- *River Gang* (1945), as Peg Leg
- *Radio Stars on Parade* (1945), as Lucky Maddox
- *Zombies on Broadway* (1945), as Ace Miller
- *Crime, Inc.* (1945), as Capt. Ferrone
- *To Have and Have Not* (1945), as Lt. Coyo — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/to-have-and-have-not.md)
- *The Falcon in Hollywood* (1944), as Louie Buchanan
- *Gambler's Choice* (1944), as Chappie Wilson
- *Trocadero* (1944), as Mickey Jones
- *Uncertain Glory* (1944), as Henri Duval
- *Timber Queen* (1944), as Smacksie Golden
- *Klondike Kate* (1943), as 'Sometime' Smith
- *Harvest Melody* (1943), as Chuck
- *Passport to Suez* (1943), as Johnny Booth
- *Hit the Ice* (1943), as Harry 'Silky' Fellowsby
- *Taxi, Mister* (1943), as Gangster Louis Glorio / The Frisco Ghost
- *City Without Men* (1943), as Monk LaRue
- *Lucky Jordan* (1942), as Slip Moran
- *Street of Chance* (1942), as Joe Marruci
- *Pierre of the Plains* (1942), as Clairou
- *Tortilla Flat* (1942), as Tito Ralph
- *Born to Sing* (1942), as Pete Detroit
- *Rise and Shine* (1941), as Menace
- *Week-End in Havana* (1941), as Boris
- *Married Bachelor* (1941), as Johnny Brannigan
- *Buy Me That Town* (1941), as Chink Moran
- *Private Nurse* (1941), as John Winton
- *Tall, Dark and Handsome* (1941), as Pretty Willie Williams
- *Another Thin Man* (1939), as Phil Church
- *Ouanga* (1935), as LeStrange, the Overseer
- *The Gem of the Ocean* (1934), as Pasha
- *My Mummy's Arms* (1934), as Abdullah

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 1961: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (won), for *The Danny Thomas Show*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sheldon-leonard