Lu Leonard (born Mary Lou Price; June 5, 1926 – May 14, 2004) credited also as Lou Leonard, was an American character actress who appeared in numerous television series, theatre and, briefly, film. She was the daughter of actor

Hal Price Harry Franklin "Hal" Price (June 24, 1886 – April 15, 1964) was an American film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 260 films between 1930 and 1952. He is the father of character actress and comedian Lu Leonard. On stage, Price ...

. She was best known for her role as Mrs. Pugh in '' Annie''.

Biography

Early life

Leonard was born Mary Lou Price in

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County, New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the 2020 ...

to stage and screen actor Hal Price, notable for his film with

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

and Amy Goodrich. She appeared on stage at 1 month with her vaudevillian parents, whom she would later write a play about entitled "Goodrick and Price”.

Career

Television and film

She began acting in TV roles from the early 1950s onwards including as Theodosia in the ''Life of Riley'' television sitcom. Her first major appearance was as the wife of

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

member

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 4, 1902 – January 24, 1975), better known by his stage name Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges and was often called "The Middle St ...

in the film '' Husbands Beware''. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Leonard made television appearances on such shows as ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'', ''

Mork & Mindy ''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', " My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extrater ...

'', '' The Facts of Life'', ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

'' and '' Married... with Children''. Her most memorable was in a recurring role as

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

's wise-cracking secretary in ''

Jake and the Fatman ''Jake and the Fatman'' is an American crime drama television series starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. (Jason Lochinvar) "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. Created by Dean Hargrove and Joel Steiger, the ser ...

''. She had small but memorable roles in '' Starman'' and '' Micki + Maude''. One of Leonard's visible credits was playing the singing Angel Scribe II in the late 1960s Hallmark television musical special, ''The Littlest Angel''.

Theatre

She appeared in theatre productions including national tours of Plain and Fancy,

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

and

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervan ...

. Broadway roles included

The Happiest Girl in the World ''The Happiest Girl in the World'' is a musical with a book by Fred Saidy and Henry Mayers, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music taken from the works of Jacques Offenbach. Based on the comedy ''Lysistrata'' by Aristophanes and tales of Greek myth ...

, The Gay Life,

Drat! The Cat! ''Drat! The Cat!'' is a 1965 musical about a well-off Gilded Age catgirl who becomes a jewel thief and captures the heart of the police officer assigned to arrest her. Its Broadway run lasted just eight days. The musical's book and lyrics by Ira L ...

Bravo Giovanni ''Bravo Giovanni'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by A. J. Russell, lyrics by Ronny Graham, and music by Milton Schafer. It is based upon Howard Shaw's 1959 novel, ''The Crime of Giovanni Venturi''. The musical was conceived as a vehicle ...

and

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his chor ...

. During the 1970s and 1980s she became a regional celebrity in the Los Angeles Theatre circuit for her outrageous portrayal as a lesbian head matron in the play ''

Women Behind Bars ''Women Behind Bars'' is a camp black comedy play by Tom Eyen, parodying the prison exploitation films produced by Universal, Warner Bros. and Republic Pictures during the 1950s. Plot Set in the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Villag ...

''.

Film and voice

In 1982, she appeared as Oliver Warbucks' maid Mrs. Pugh in the film '' Annie''. She also performed voices in the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

version of the 1990 animated TV series '' Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990 TV series)'', and played Mrs. Chang in the 1990 live-action ''Aladdin'' television film.

Personal life and death

Leonard never married or had children.Lu Leonard, 1927–2004
laweekly.com. Accessed April 28, 2022. Health problems (including

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

) eventually set in and she left Hollywood in 1995, living primarily in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. She moved into the Motion Picture Country Home in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

, where she spent her remaining years. She died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on May 14, 2004, at age 77. A bench in the

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

garden at the Motion Picture Home has been dedicated in her memory.

Filmography

Film and Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Lu 1926 births 2004 deaths American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses People from Long Beach, New York 20th-century American actresses American women singers American women comedians 21st-century American women Comedians from New York (state)