Irving Leonard (December 28, 1915 – December 13, 1969) was an American financial adviser to Hollywood film stars of the 1950s and 1960s and an associate film producer.

Career

Leonard began as a cost accountant in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and later moved into the film industry.McGilligan, p.84 Amongst his notable clients were

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

and Clint Eastwood.McGilligan, p.177 He was arguably the most responsible for launching Eastwood's career in the late 1950s and 1960s and whom Eastwood described as being "like a second father to me".Schickel, p.185 Leonard, described by

Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also w ...

as "a small fastidious man" and a "lightning calculator", closely advised Eastwood on his finances, career moves and even personal purchases such as cars and houses, right from the mid-1950s through to their planning of the film ''

Play Misty for Me ''Play Misty for Me'' is a 1971 American psychological thriller film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The screenplay, written by regular Eastwood collaborators Jo Heims and ...

'' in the winter of his death in 1969, Eastwood's directorial debut.McGilligan, p.104-5 It was Leonard who did the groundwork in establishing Eastwood's The Malpaso Company for the film ''

Hang 'Em High ''Hang 'Em High'' is a 1968 American DeLuxe Color revisionist Western film directed by Ted Post and written by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching; Inger Stevens ...

'' in 1967, using the earnings from the

Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...

.McGilligan, p.162 Leonard had served as President of the Malpaso Company and associate producer of Eastwood's films from ''Hang 'Em High'' until his death. Patrick McGilligan, who wrote a 1999 biography of Eastwood, describes Leonard as follows: Leonard died shortly before Christmas 1969, aged 53. Friends of Eastwood say he was never as devastated in his life as to when he heard the news of Leonard's passing. Leonard had employed two bookkeepers, Roy Kaufman and Howard Berstein, who after his death formed a new entity, Kaufman and Bernstein Inc., and continued to handle Eastwood's portfolio.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Irving American accountants American film industry accountants American film studio executives American film producers 1915 births 1969 deaths