Leonard Fenton (; 29 April 1926 – 29 January 2022) was an English actor, director and painter, best known for his role as Harold Legg in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''.

Early life

Fenton was born Leonard FinesteinLeonard Fenton
, ''Something Jewish''. URL last accessed on 25 September 2006 in

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

, the son of Fanny (Goldberg) and Morris Feinstein, a women's garment maker. His parents were

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

with ancestral roots in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

(

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). He attended Raine Foundation Grammar School from 1937 to 1944.The Old Raineians' Association
", ''DavidSpencer.com''. URL last accessed on 4 July 2007 Fenton originally trained to be a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

as an

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

engineer. He worked in this profession for five years after leaving the army, but eventually decided on a career change. He took up acting and won a scholarship to attend the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...

in London.

Career

His career in acting spanned over sixty years. One of his earliest acting breaks came when he was offered a role by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

in his

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

''Chimes at Midnight''. Subsequent acting credits include: ''Studio Four'' (1962); ''

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...

'' (1974); '' Secret Army'' (1977); ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'' (1978); ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' (1981); ''

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site ...

'' (1983), and '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1982), where he played the Austrian Jew, Erich Gottlieb. In the theatre, Fenton played the role of Willie to Billie Whitelaw’s Winnie in

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

’s ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in 1979, directed by Beckett himself. Fenton was best known for playing Harold Legg, one of the original characters in the BBC soap opera, ''

''. The character appeared from the show's inception in 1985 until 1997, returning for brief stints in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2018 until 2019. The character was originally one of the main focal points of the programme, but after 1989 he became less central. After the character's retirement in 1997, Fenton's appearances in ''EastEnders'' were infrequent. He made a single appearance in 2004 at the funeral of Mark Fowler, and in June 2007 to counsel Dot Branning regarding her concerns about

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n 'foundling' baby, Tomas. Fenton's subsequent television credits included ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...

''; ''So You Think You've Got Troubles'' (1991); '' Love Hurts'' (1993) and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' (1985; 2001; 2005), among others. In the West End, he performed in two productions by Lindsay Anderson,

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' and Ben Travers' last play, ''The Bed Before Yesterday''. He performed in many radio plays, including ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'' as the Elvenking, and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' as Daddy Twofoot, both for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Amongst Fenton's other broadcasting work was the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

webcast of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' story ''

Death Comes to Time ''Death Comes to Time'' is a webcast audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced by the BBC and first broadcast in five episodes on the bbc.co.uk, BBCi Cult website from 12 July 2001, ...

''. On 17 February 2006, he made a personal appearance on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

entertainment show, ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

''. His film credits included roles in '' Up the Creek'' (1958), ''

The Devil-Ship Pirates ''The Devil-Ship Pirates'' is a 1964 British pirate adventure film directed by Don Sharp. The film was the first of several collaborations between Don Sharp and star Christopher Lee. Plot A pirate ship, involved in 1588 battles on the side of ...

'' (1964), ''Robin Hood Junior'' (1975), ''

Give My Regards to Broad Street ''Give My Regards to Broad Street'' is the fifth solo studio album by Paul McCartney and the soundtrack to the Give My Regards to Broad Street (film), film of the same name. It features covers of Beatles' songs, Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings ...

'' (1984), ''

Morons from Outer Space ''Morons from Outer Space'' is a 1985 British comedy-science fiction film directed by Mike Hodges and written by and starring Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith. It also stars Jimmy Nail and James B. Sikking. Plot A small spaceship docks with a re ...

'' (1985), and the British horror movie '' The Zombie Diaries'' (2006). In December 2004, at the age of 78, Fenton made his directorial debut with ''After Chekhov'', written by four contemporary writers

Allen Drury Allen Stuart Drury (September 2, 1918 – September 2, 1998) was an American novelist. During World War II, he was a reporter in the Senate, closely observing Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, among others. He would convert the ...

, Martin Jago, Andrew Neil and

Olwen Wymark Olwen Margaret Wymark (née Buck, 14 February 1932 – 14 June 2013) was an American writer and playwright. Biography Olwen Margaret Buck was born on 14 February 1932 in Oakland, California, the daughter of Philip W. (a professor of political s ...

in the 100th anniversary year of Chekhov's death. The piece, produced by Little London Theatre Company was performed in the

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

Studio. In 2012 and again in 2013, Fenton appeared in a production of '' Cross Purpose'', directed by Stephen Whitson at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose-b ...

, London. On 25 July 2018, it was confirmed that Fenton would reprise his role as Dr. Harold Legg in ''EastEnders'' in late 2018. This stint lasted until 15 February 2019, when the character died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Personal life

Fenton and cellist Madeline Thorner married in 1967. They had four children and later separated. Aside from acting, he was also a professional painter and held several exhibitions. Before the 2010 general election, Fenton came out in support of the Labour Party, after appearing in their election broadcast.

Death

He died in

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

, London, on 29 January 2022, at the age of 95. His former co-star

June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the Inside ...

memorialised him as "a charming man in all ways, first as a person and then as an actor, extremely polite and kind".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Dr. Legg
BBC character profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Leonard 1926 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English painters 21st-century English male actors Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art British Army personnel of World War II Jewish English male actors English directors English male painters English male radio actors English male soap opera actors English people of Latvian-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent People educated at Raine's Foundation School Royal Engineers soldiers 20th-century English male artists Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Military personnel from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Stepney