Eddie Leonard (October 17, 1870 – July 28, 1941), born Lemuel Golden Toney, was a

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and a man considered the greatest American

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...

of his day, at a time when

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

s were an acceptable and popular mainstream entertainment in the United States. He was called "last of the great minstrels" in his 1941 obituary in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

''. He performed in vaudeville for 45 years before that medium faded in the 1920s, and was known for such songs as " Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" and "Roly Boly Eyes". He published his memoir titled ''What a Life I'm Telling You'' in 1934.

Early life

Lemuel Golden Toney was born in 1871 or on October 18, 1875, sources vary, in

Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia Church Hill, also known as the St. John's Church Historic District, is an Old and Historic District in Richmond, Virginia. This district encompasses the original land plat of the city of Richmond. Church Hill is the eastern terminus of Broad Stre ...

, to Ellen and Richard Toney. As a boy, his family moved to South Richmond and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. At the age of 12, he started his stage career at Putnam's Theatre Comique at East Franklin Street in Richmond. He then took up the stage name Eddie Leonard. He also worked as a water boy at

Tredegar Iron Works The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital. Tredegar supplied about half the artillery used ...

in Belle Isle. He performed alongside

Bill Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...

in Richmond.

Career

Leonard wanted to be a baseball player, and tried out for

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

and played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

as a center fielder briefly. He was unsuccessful, but danced and sang for the players in the clubhouse, and George H. Primrose discovered him. Primrose subsequently hired him as a

. He subsequently performed with the George Primrose Minstrels. In 1890, Leonard left Richmond with a road show. He would find his way to New York City, and was hired in the show ''McFadden's Flats. Around 1900, Leonard joined Jack Haverly's minstrel show. In 1903, Leonard danced and sang the song "Don't Do Nothin' for Nobody That Won't Do Nothin' For You" with Primrose and Decker. He became known for a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

song style that Leonard called "syncopated syllabication" and a "soft shoe" dance. He was known for his songs " Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider", "Roly Boly Eyes" and "Big Brown Booloo Eyes", but he wrote more than 40 songs throughout his career. His song "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" sold 500,000 copies. He also appeared in the muscial comedies, ''The Southerners'' and ''Lifting the Lid''. His musical comedy ''Roly-Boly Eyes'' broke a house record in 1919 at the Knickerbocker Theatre in Manhattan. Leonard performed with his wife Mabel Russell in vaudeville acts. Leonard was in big minstrel shows, including Eddie Leonard's Minstrel Monarchs and the Cohan and Harris Show, which was backed by

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

. His salary in 1910 reached a week. In 1932, Leonard was scheduled to tour with The Rooneys, Walter C. Kelly,

Joe Frisco Joe Frisco (born Louis Wilson Joseph; November 4, 1889 – February 18, 1958) was an American vaudeville performer who first made his name on stage as a jazz dancer, but later incorporated his stuttering voice to his act and became a popular ...

, Dannie Dare, Eddie Miller and George Price, but the tour was cancelled. In 1929, Eddie Leonard starred in the movie production ''

The Minstrel Show ''The Minstrel Show'' is the second studio album by hip hop trio Little Brother. It followed the critical success of their 2003 debut, '' The Listening''. The album was highly anticipated and touted as a probable breakthrough for the group, e ...

'' and he appeared in several other movies. Later in life, Leonard managed a bar and grill in Brooklyn called Eddie Leonard Minstrel Bar and Grill, but the business folded after six years.

Personal life

Leonard married Mabel Russell, a vaudeville performer, in 1908. For a time, Leonard lived at the Imperial Hotel at Broadway and 31st Street in New York City. At the time of his death, Leonard and his wife lived at King Edward Hotel at 120 West 44th Street in New York City. Leonard was found dead on July 29, 1941, at the Imperial Hotel. He was reported missing by his wife the evening prior, and is estimated to have died the same evening, July 28. Leonard was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Partial filmography

* '' Melody Lane'' (1929) * ''

'' (1929) * ''Rainbow's End'' * ''

If I Had My Way ''If I Had My Way'' is a 1940 musical comedy film directed by David Butler and starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. Based on a story by David Butler, the film is about a construction worker who takes charge of the daughter of a friend killed i ...

'' (1940)

References

External links

* * * Year of birth unknown 1941 deaths 19th-century American male actors 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors Male actors from Richmond, Virginia Blackface minstrel performers Vaudeville performers {{US-film-actor-1870s-stub