Background
Jack E. Leonard was born Leonard Kibard Lebitsky in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Kibard and Ethel Lebitsky; his father was a tailor.
(In this entertaining 1950s musical, a trio of sailors and...)
In this entertaining 1950s musical, a trio of sailors and a young singer join a struggling producer to bring a stage flop to Broadway where, of course, it becomes the hottest show in town. Terrific score by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn, based on George S. Kaufman's "The Butter and the Egg Man." When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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(A crazy business travels to a deserted island rumored to ...)
A crazy business travels to a deserted island rumored to be the location of the fountain of youth.
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Jack E. Leonard was born Leonard Kibard Lebitsky in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Kibard and Ethel Lebitsky; his father was a tailor.
As a young man Leonard worked as a lifeguard and planned to become a physical education instructor; about his youthful consideration of swimming competitively he once quipped, "I swam against Johnny Weismuller in 1929 and he was so fast I haven't seen him since. " Instead of swimming he became a dancer on the vaudeville circuit, where he soon became famous for his comic rendition of the Charleston. In fact, he competed in dozens of Charleston-dancing contests, earning enough money to pay his bills so he could pursue a career in show business. While in vaudeville he also changed his name to Jack E. Leonard. He never told anyone what the "E" stood for; some say it was in honor of his mother.
Leonard soon parlayed his dancing into a comic routine in which he also told jokes. The funny steps of the rotund five-foot, five-inch comic dancer eventually caught the eye of a vaudeville impresario who promoted him to a single-star act. Jack not only danced but soon specialized in slapstick and stand-up routines. Years later, he said he had patterned his act after that of Jack Waldron, who once told a heckler, "Let's play horse--I'll be the front end, and you just be yourself. " Thus, Jack E. Leonard's trademark became the nightclub one-line insult.
For forty years "Fat Jacky Leonard, " as he called himself, badmouthed people, most of them friends, most often famous celebrities. His stock-in-trade one-line barbs were usually aimed at the ego of whatever movie or TV star happened to be standing or sitting closest to the stage at the time. Once, while appearing on the Red Skelton show, he chided Red, after the latter had bombed with three straight jokes, "What was that, one of your silent routines?" One of his favorite butts was his good friend, Ed Sullivan, on whose show he appeared several times in the 1950's and 1960's. Although Leonard was a hit from the start of his long career, his big break didn't come right away. After vaudeville he toured with several big bands, played nightclubs, and even toured with USO shows during World War II.
Postwar, in the 1950's and 1960's, Leonard began to earn large salaries for his performances. However, his big chance came with his guest appearances on commercial TV. He made guest shots on panel and game shows, variety shows such as Ed Sullivan's, and late-night talk shows with such headliners as Steve Allen ("The Tonight Show") and Jack Paar. On the average, from 1955 to 1970, he made thirty appearances a year, topping out at fifty-four in one year. According to Sullivan, Leonard had "fully absorbed his stage personality. He was always on. " Said Sullivan, "He's identical with his image on camera. He's just a wonderfully amusing guy. " Indeed, all his barbs and insults were delivered in an innocent manner. Leonard once declared, "An insult is only funny if it's really ridiculous and it's ridiculous if it's aimed at some really big shot. " Of course, Jack didn't spare the obscure and humble, if they happened to be heckling him. He once told a noisy audience in Boston, "If I were Paul Revere, I wouldn't warn you. " He didn't spare himself, either. Weighing between 200 and 350 pounds, depending on the state of one of his many diets, he often poked fun at his short, squat stature.
Leonard not only did television spots and nightclub acts but also cut several comedy records for RCA Victor and made three movies. In 1953 he had his only starring role as Porky in Three Sailors and a Girl. He later described it as "strictly for drive-out theaters. They wouldn't even show it on British TV. " In 1964, he made an appearance with Jerry Lewis in Lewis's comedy movie The Disorderly Orderly, and in 1965 he appeared in a television documentary entitled The World of Abbott and Costello. In 1966, he had a major role in a TV movie called The Fat Spy. In 1968, Leonard was elected to the New York City Friar's Club, an honor he cherished. In March 1973, Leonard, by then suffering from diabetes, collapsed on stage at New York's Rainbow Grill. He was hospitalized at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Two months later, Leonard died of diabetic complications. His funeral and burial took place in New York City, where he had lived most of his life.
(In this entertaining 1950s musical, a trio of sailors and...)
(A crazy business travels to a deserted island rumored to ...)
(DVD)
Quotations:
"You know Chicago, the city where kids play robbers and robbers. "
"You have a very fine voice--too bad it's in Bing Crosby's throat. "
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure. ”
Leonard met his first wife, Kay, an acrobat, after one of his USO performances. They were married in 1945 and had three children; Kay died of cancer on December 2, 1967. His second wife was Gladys Leonard.