Leonard Barr
Barr in Diamonds Are Forever, 1971
Birth name	Leonard Barra
Born	(1903-09-27)September 27, 1903 West Virginia, U.S.
Died	November 22, 1980(1980-11-22) (aged 77) Burbank, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Years active	1970–1980
Genres	One-liners
Relative(s)	Dean Martin (nephew)
Notable works and roles	Diamonds Are Forever

Leonard Barr (born Leonard Barra; September 27, 1903 – November 22, 1980) was an American stand-up comedian, film actor, and dancer.

Career

Barr appeared several times with Dean Martin (his nephew) and Jerry Lewis when they hosted the Colgate Comedy Hour. He had a brief role in The Sting, appropriately as a burlesque comic. That is also the way his character is listed in the credits—as an anonymous comedian. However, in the wings of the stage just before the comic's entrance, he has a brief conversation with Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), who addresses him as "Leonard". Barr's comedic schtick was one-liners; told with a straight face, and sometimes deliberately repeating a punchline.

He is perhaps best remembered internationally for his appearance in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever with Sean Connery in which he played Shady Tree, a stand-up comedian and smuggler in Las Vegas who was assassinated by henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. He also appeared in The Odd Couple in the non-dialogue New York street scenes in the first season and in later episodes with dialogue; and, albeit unnamed, on an episode of M*A*S*H as a USO comedian. He also made numerous guest appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; as well as his nephew's own variety show. Cameron Crowe briefly depicted Barr as a foul-mouthed real-life character in Almost Famous, his semi-autobiographical film of 2000.^[1]

Personal life

He was the uncle of Dean Martin (being the brother of Dean Martin's mother Angela).^[2]

Death

Barr died in Burbank, California, at age 77 on November 22, 1980, after suffering a stroke three weeks earlier.^[3]

Filmography