Leonard Schultz (December 13, 1933 – March 16, 2025) was an American comedian who performed during the 1970s on television and at comedy clubs in New York City. His madcap style of improvisational comedy influenced other comedians such as

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

, Gallagher,

Carrot Top Scott Thompson (born February 25, 1965), known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is widely known for his use of prop comedy. Early life Thompson was born in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in Coc ...

, and

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

Life and career

Born in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, Schultz began making other children laugh at age eight by imitating chickens, making sound effects, and doing voices. Originally hoping for a career as a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher, at 18 Schultz was offered a contract by a

New York Yankee The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

-owned minor league team. A shoulder injury compelled him to turn down the contract and ended his athletic career. Instead he went to college, earning a bachelor of science degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and a master of science degree in Education from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

. After serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

with the

Special Services division Special Services was the entertainment branch of the American military. The unit was created on 22 July 1940 by the War Department as part of the Army Service Forces. Special Services not only used its own specially trained and talented troops ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, he became a high school gym teacher in 1955, teaching at such New York City schools as John Adams High School and Newtown High School. As a teacher, he was appreciated by his students and fellow teachers for his sense of humor, but ignored their encouragement to take up

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

. When friends convinced him to write a few minutes of an act, he debuted at open mic night at

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a 50-seat single venue (whic ...

comedy club in New York in 1969 and quickly gained a popular following. Four months later he appeared on ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

'', which led to appearances on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'', and numerous other shows. By the late 1970s, he was a popular comedian both on television and at comedy clubs, particularly in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. His catch-phrase was "Go crazy, Lenny!", which he encouraged audience members to yell at him while he performed outrageous and zany antics in his act. Schultz often incorporated

props A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

in his act, with the assistance of his wife Helen (Lenny had one child with his first wife Francine Ornstein). Unlike his television act, his stand-up often included lewd or adult humor. Throughout his comedy career he continued working as a high school gym teacher and was known to leave clubs early on school nights. Schultz said that both principals and fellow teachers would ask him for autographs after seeing him on TV the night before. Schultz was known among his fellow comedians as a "hard act to follow". Schultz's comedy style has been called influential on such comics as Gallagher,

, and Angel Salazar, and praised by such comedians as Brett Butler and

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...

and

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. ...

both said that he always got a standing ovation and "always killed.". In 1992, Schultz semi-retired and moved to

Sullivan County, New York Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The county seat is Monticello. The county's name honors Major General John Sullivan, who was labeled at the time as a hero in th ...

with his wife. As of 2017, he lived in

Hallandale Beach, Florida Hallandale Beach (formerly known simply as Hallandale) is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. It is al ...

. Schultz died at home in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, De ...

, on March 15, 2025, at the age of 91.

Television appearances

* ''

'' (1969, 1972) as himself * '' The David Frost Show'' (1969–1971) as himself * ''

'' (1970) as himself * ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

'' (1970) as himself * ''

'' (1971) as himself * ''

Fol-de-Rol ''Fol-de-Rol'' is a prime-time family variety special in the USA that was set at a medieval fair, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and based on their 1968 live puppet show. It was broadcast by ABC on February 27, 1972. It was directed by Tony Cha ...

'' (TV Movie) (1972) Jack Spratt, Jester, Ensemble * ''

The Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' is the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968 – January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesday ...

'' (1973) as himself * '' The All New Pink Panther Laugh-and-a-Half Hour-and-a-Half Show'' (1976) as himself * ''The Late Summer Early Fall Bert Convy Show'' (TV Series) (1976) as himself * ''

Ball Four ''Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues'' is a book by Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton, edited by Leonard Shecter and first published in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, sp ...

'' (TV Series) (1976) as Lenny "Birdman" Siegel * ''The Great American Laugh-Off'' (1977) as himself * ''

Blansky's Beauties ''Blansky's Beauties'' is an American sitcom television series and ostensible spin-off of ''Happy Days'' that aired on ABC from February 12 to June 27, 1977. The main character of the series was introduced on an episode of ''Happy Days'', then ...

'' (TV Series) (1977) as himself * ''

Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by come ...

'' (TV Series) (1977) as himself * ''How to Watch TV'' (public service announcements) (1980) as Announcer * ''Drawing Power'' (TV Series) (1980) as himself * '' The Comeback Trail'' (theatrical film) (1982) * ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' (1982) as himself * '' The House of God'' (theatrical film) (1984) as Zeiss * ''

Make Me Laugh ''Make Me Laugh'' is an American television game show in which contestants watch three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian ha ...

'' (1997) as himself

References

External links

*
''Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' episode discussing Schultz

''The Daily Show'' episode discussing Schultz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Lenny 1933 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American performance artists American sketch comedians American stand-up comedians Comedians from the Bronx Educators from New York City Hunter College alumni Jewish American military personnel Male actors from the Bronx Military personnel from New York City Military personnel from New York (state) New York University alumni Newtown High School (Queens) alumni Schoolteachers from New York (state) United States Army personnel of the Korean War