Sheldon Leonard

So I told the person it was Bobbyjellison.

He said, "Oh, what did you pay him?" And I said, "Who's this?" And he said, "It's Sheldon Leonard." And I said to him, "Which Sheldon Leonard?" He says, "I'm the short, fat, blonde one," which was the coloring of Bobbyjellison.

[laughs] I, of course, died of laughter because he wanted to, to use him on one of the shows he was, uh, he was doing.

Another favorite was actress Elvia Allman.

...

the lion was played by Sheldon Leonard.

Yeah.

Kind of the gangster voice and everything.

[beep]

[laughs] Maybe, you know, maybe instead of the buzzer that the c- caller was suggesting, maybe we need a bell, like in the It's, It's a Wonderful Life with Sheldon Leonard, the bartender with the bell.

Remember that? There it is.

[laughs] Yeah, exactly.

Before we end our chat with Doris, we wanted to ask her just one question on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and compare it to what that set was like as opposed to the Lucy set, and here's what she had to say.

I think that, uh, that the, uh, atmosphere on The Dick Van D- Dyke Show was, um, maybe a little more tense than on Lucy at that time because they were just, they were just starting, you know? And, um, as a matter of fact, wasn't, uh, Sheldon Leonard was the producer of that show.

Yes.

And, now wait a minute, I have to think about this story.

Can you help me?" And she said, "Yeah, grab a pen." I said, "Okay." So I did, and she gives me his phone number.

And I said, "Well, what am I supposed to do?" She said, "Call him." I'm like, "Just cold, cold call him?" She said, "Yeah, just tell him I gave you the number," right? So I did, right? And then from there it sort of snowballed, right? And then I think that perhaps amongst the cast members, they started to talk about this guy from New York State that was, might call him for an interview, right? As the path ensued, I did An- I, uh, interviewed Ann Gilbert, and then I, uh, you know, the phone rang one morning, on a Saturday morning, and it was Sheldon Leonard on the other end of the phone.

"David, do you wanna do an interview?" Right? Okay, I know that voice, right? And eventually I was able to secure those interviews with Dick and Carl.

I was sort of thinking ahead in that when I published my first issues, I sent them to all the cast members, so it landed in their mailbox.

Yeah, Dick, initially that's, that was Dick's biggest concern is are they gonna believe that this young actress could actually be my wife, 'cause there was 10 years of age difference at least between them, right? But didn't seem to matter once that chemistry was established between Dick and Mary, for sure, right? So all of those...

It's interesting when you look at the way that the show was written, the order in which the episodes were written, and the order in which the shows ultimately aired.

They're a little out of sequence, and again, I think that was the instincts of Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard early on, because they would shoot an episode that wasn't supposed to air for a bit, but see how well Mary did and how that helped establish her character, and then aired that episode earlier to try to get more attention from the viewing audience so there would be interest there.

It's amazing how times change, 'cause like, right? I mean, nowadays it would be like, would anyone believe I would date someone that old?

Original music was composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman.

Supporting cast included Loreen Tuttle, Sidney Miller, Sheldon Leonard, Wally Mayor, and Peter Leeds.

John Houston speaking.

[upbeat music]