Leonard Frey

Infobox Actor
name = Leonard Frey


imagesize =
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date|1938|9|4|mf=y
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York City, New York
deathdate = death date and age|1988|8|24|1938|9|4|mf=y
deathplace = New York City, New York

Leonard Frey (September 4, 1938 – August 24, 1988) was an American actor.

Biography

Frey was born in Brooklyn, New York. After college, where he studied art with designs on being a painter, he studied acting at New York City's prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse under famed acting coach Sanford Meisner, and decided to pursue a career in theater instead. In 1968, he received critical acclaim for his performance as a bitter, bitchy, pockmarked gay man who dreads his upcoming birthday in off-Broadway's "The Boys in the Band". This landmark play introduced mainstream audiences to the culture of gay men who supported each other, providing friendship, family and, when necessary, reality checks. (A homosexual himself, he later died of an AIDS-related illness.) He, along with the rest of the original cast, appeared in the 1970 film version, directed by William Friedkin, as well.

Frey was nominated for a 1975 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in "The National Health". Other stage credits include revivals of "The Time of Your Life" (1969), "Beggar on Horseback" (1970), "Twelfth Night" (1972), and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1980). For his role in the film version of "Fiddler on the Roof", Frey earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Motel the tailor. (He had appeared in the original Broadway production as Mendel, the rabbi's son).

Frey's television credits included appearances in "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "Medical Center", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Eight is Enough", "Quincy, M.E.", "Hart to Hart", "Barney Miller", "Moonlighting", and "Murder, She Wrote", as well as a co-starring role as the villainous Parker Tillman on the short-lived ABC Western comedy "Best of the West".

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Persondata
NAME= Frey, Leonard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= September 4, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH= Brooklyn, New York City, New York
DATE OF DEATH= August 24, 1988
PLACE OF DEATH= New York City, New York