Career
Born Leon Ramon in Ogden, Utah, Janney made his first theatrical appearance at age two before an audience at the Pantages Theatre in his hometown. He spent the next several years in vaudeville, and also made his first appearance on radio in 1926, making the leap to legitimate theater soon after. Janney"s movie debut came with Victor Sjöström"s The Wind starring Lillian Gish.
He soon began appearing in a string of movies portraying the boyhood incarnations of such actors as Ricardo Cortez, Reginald Denny, and Conrad Nagel.
Producer Hal Roach took notice of Janney and hired him to appear in the Our Gang comedy Bear Shooters as "Spud". In 1931 Janney starred in the second film adaptation of Booth Tarkington"s Penrod and Sam.
By the mid-1930s, Janney was considered the quintessential male juvenile star. As he entered his teenage years, he turned to radio and worked on the series The Parker Family, playing all-American boy Richard Parker.
Though he preferred theater work, his radio work allowed him to become a master dialectician.
Janney was a master of using convincing foreign accents, and even more so at adapting regional dialects of the United States. After serving in World World War II as a translator, he continued working in radio and theater. Though blacklisted in the 1950s, Janney continued to work regularly due to his preference for theatrical work, appearing in such plays as The School for Scandal and The Gazebo.
In the early 1940"s, he starred in his own radio series "" an action and adventure show aimed at pre-teen boys.
Most episodes still survive, which can be found and listened to on the internet. Janney appeared in dozens of other radio series as well, including some of the most popular and longest running, such as the critically acclaimed dramatic series, "" (1942-1962) - 945 episodes are known to exist.
Other examples include "" and "" Mr. Janney appeared in several episodes of radio"s first adult science fiction series, "" Often, Mr.
Janney played multiple roles, using his extraordinary ability to quickly alter his voice.
This talent was used quite often in Columbia Broadcasting System radio"s successful radio drama "revival" series, "" (1974-1982) as Janney starred in at least 80 episodes. He also made countless un-credited appearances too, until his death in 1980. Throughout the 1960"s and 1970"s Janney did voice-overs for hundreds of television commercials and PSA"son
In addition, he was the narrator of the popular Saturday morning cartoon "" (1967-1969) Leon Janney appeared in bit roles on such television shows as Carolina 54, Where Are You?, The Defenders and The Jackie Gleason Show.
He also made his first film appearance in more than a decade, playing a sympathetic guard in The Last Mademoiselle (Miss) Janney was also the spokesman for the New York Mets in their Rheingold Beer commercials for the team"s first two seasons (1962-1963).
In his final years, he was a regular on television shows Another World and The Edge of Night. His last film was "Charly" with Cliff Robertson and Dina Merrill in 1966.
Janney died of cancer on October 28, 1980, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.