Can't Judge Leonard By His Cover

BY JOE DELANEY
August 1, 1971

"Don't judge a book by its cover," so goes an old cliché. Jack E. Leonard is living proof of the truth inherent in this adjuration.

The show business book on the Chicago-born son of a non-show business family, one of five children, four of them still living, the only one to earn his livelihood in the entertainment industry, is already a mammoth tome with chapters yet to be written.

The outside Jack E. Leonard is difficult to discern from his on-stage personality these past five well-attended weeks in the Frontier Circle "F" Theatre. Unless you know him, and he knows you, the inside Jack E. Leonard may not be discernable to you at all.

Boy athlete and expert swimmer, a neighborhood somebody, the young Jack E. was most proud of his dancing ability. His forte was the Charleston and he was an odds-on favorite to win any contest he entered.

Comedian Billy House discovered young Leonard in a dance contest and put him in vaudeville where they toured together for a year. When the newness wore off, Jack E. realized he had been making more money as an amateur, doubling as summer life guard, so he came back home.

Jack Waldron, a night club comedian, was the first King of the one-liner style of comedy and the second performer to encourage the young dancer-swimmer from the Northwest side of Chicago.

Presentation houses, like the Paramount, Strand, Capitol and Lowe's State Theatre, in New York City's Times Square, were strongholds of live entertainment offering a motion picture followed by a stage show which consisted of a dance band, a boy vocalist, a girl vocalist, a dance act or a novelty act and a comedian.

Jack E. Leonard was the comedian with such great name bands as Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Duchin, Gene Krupa and Jan Savitt to name a very few.

Russ Morgan was Jack's own favorite because, "Russ had such a great sense of humor."

"Musicians and I got along, I could sing in tune, dance in tempo, talk their language, and there were always lots of laughs. People in the business really don't get to laugh very much any more. A sense of humor is the only thing that made seven shows a day, seven days a week, bearable."

"Bet you didn't know I played England and Ireland with my act. In Dublin, they billed me as 'John Leonard, Irish American Wit.' The gang back in Chicago should have seen that. I did all right too."

Jack E. Leonard has always done much better than "all right." In a career that spans better than four decades, the man has been a headliner in every media. Who can match his record of better than a thousand starring TV show appearances?

Just as all trumpeters and most great vocalists owe some indebtedness to Louis Armstrong, most comedians working today owe their tithe to the man known as the "Mouth That Roars" and thus indirectly to Billy House and Jack Waldron.

Frank Sinatra, Sr., may be the greatest pop vocalist of our time and admitted debtor to Louis Armstrong, is a Jack E. Leonard fan and friend. Jack E. now enjoys working opposite Frank, Jr. in the Frontier Circle "F" Theatre but refuses to accept an elder statesmen designation.

"That's a lot of crap. You either do your thing or you don't. I get it on. There are a lot of road companies of me out there. Let them; there is still only one original and in what I do, I'm it."

So far, we have dealt solely with the public Jack E. Leonard, the show business book, outside and inside, and the "outside" man.

The "inside" man we have known was a devoted husband for 30 years until the first Mrs. Leonard, born Catherine Theresa Marie Dillon, passed away. Jack E. still cares for his former mother-in-law. She lives in Philadelphia and considers Jack E., the present Mrs. Leonard, Gladys, and the three girls, Wanda (9), Brenda (8), and Linda (6) as her family.

Our own association with Jack E. spans three of those four show business decades. Many an afternoon session in the Friar's Club steam room was a better occasion because we shared a bench together. Many a lunch hour was funnier and more pleasant because Jack E. would conduct seminars at the round table in the Friar's Club restaurant.

Many a young comedian was the beneficiary of those round table critiques while others of us just enjoyed the good company.

Inside that considerable outside is a kind, generous, honest man who has been hurt more than once when he lowered his guard for someone. After all these years, it must be hard not to slip into his on-stage sound, oft times more bombast than content, when the opportunity presents itself.

This was probably the case during the recent County Commission hearing. Jack E. was there, not only for himself, but for all his fellow entertainers. He fought as he has fought all his life, with his wit; he felt he was fighting for his economic life.

It is a matter of record that Jack E. apologized to one of the commissioners. Perhaps the in­cident should have been allowed to rest at that point.

Gladys and Jack E. met in Las Vegas and were married here in January of 1970. She, Jack, and the girls tried Jack's big Manhattan apartment for six months before deciding Las Vegas would be a better environment for family life. Gladys takes it from here.

"Las Vegas may not be the perfect place to live but, then, does such a place exist? We chose to live here because Jack works here a good part of each year; the Nevada school system ranks with the best; and, we all love the climate here."

"It is lovely to still be able to see blue sky most of each day. We do worry about pollution prevention though. Are we doing what we should right now? How can one tell?"

"One big lack is the absence of aesthetic beauty in our city. We have a crying need for parks, museums, a zoo, historical monuments and cultural centers; thank goodness, the University is doing something in this regard.

"Another vexation is the length of time it takes to obtain certain items. We have waited as long as one year for delivery."

"The crime statistics concern us greatly. The house we live in was burglarized twice during the year before we bought it. A number of other homes in our neighborhood have been ransacked."

"In this regard, Las Vegas seems to offer little advantage in safety over our New York City apartment."

"Jack loves being able to visit with his many show business friends as they play the various hotels in town. Many are settling in Las Vegas which is nice. I am sure Jack does sometimes miss the "beat" of the big city, his native Chicago, then more than thirty years of New York City."

"It is a tribute to Jack as a husband and father that he chose to live where it would be best for the entire family. Happiness is where you make it. We are happy here."

We are happy the Jack E. Leonards have settled here. Perhaps this inside insight will afford a clue to the gentle inhabitant that dwells within and his family.

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