Ferdinand Leon Jr. (January 29, 1922 – September 7, 1988) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

writer who wrote for television shows.

Life and career

Leon was born in January 1922 in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, to Ferdinand Leon Sr. and Ida Leon. He attended school in Louisiana with his four sisters. During his youth, Ferdinand lived in New Orleans and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Upon attending African-American writing classes conducted by Earl Barret and Bob Goodwin, Leon was recognized as a "promising student" and gained enough recognition to be hired as a freelance writer. Leon wrote for television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including storylines, screenplays, and teleplays. Among his most noted work was writing for the groundbreaking television show ''

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...

''. He was one of multiple African-American writers for the show alongside Robert Goodwin,

Harry Dolan Harry Dolan (November 5, 1927 – September 7, 1981) was a writer for and the director of the Watts Writers Workshop created by Budd Schulberg. He started off as a janitor and became one of the most serious African American writers of his ti ...

, and Gene Boland. For ''Julia'', Leon wrote eight episodes between 1968 and 1970, one of which was a teleplay. These episodes included "Gone with the Whim" (1970), "The Prisoner of Brenda" (1970), "Love is a Many Slighted Thing" (1969), "I Thought I Saw a Two Timer "(1969), "Sticks and Stones Can Break My Pizza" (1969), "The One and Only, Genuine, Original, Family Uncle" (1968), and "Designers Don't Always Have Designs" (1968). Leon is mentioned in the autobiography of

Hal Kanter Hal Kanter (December 18, 1918 – November 6, 2011) was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley (in '' Loving You'' and ''Blue Hawaii''), for both feature films and televis ...

(producer for ''Julia'') as a great writer. Leon wrote for two other shows in his television career, including contributing one episode to ''

Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup ...

'' in 1970, entitled "Love and the Safely Married Man/Love and the Uncoupled Coupled Couple/Love and the Many Married Couple". He also contributed one episode to ''

The Partners ''The Partners'' is an American sitcom that aired on September 18, 1971, through September 8, 1972, on NBC. Synopsis The program featured Don Adams and Rupert Crosse as bumbling detectives, John Doucette their exasperated commanding officer. ...

'' in 1971: "How Many Carats in a Grapefruit". Leon contributed to the journal ''

Modern Drama ''Modern Drama'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing studies of dramatic literature. It is published four times a year by the University of Toronto Press. It was founded in 1958 and largely focuses on literature of the 19th century on ...

'' Vol. 2 (1968): 87–96 with a piece entitled, "Time, Fantasy, and Reality in Night of the Iguana". It was published as a review of ''

The Night of the Iguana ''The Night of the Iguana'' is a stage play written by American author Tennessee Williams. It is based on his 1948 short story. In 1959, Williams staged it as a one-act play, and over the next two years he developed it into a full-length play, pr ...

'', a screenplay by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

. Leon died in New Orleans in September 1988 at the age of 66.Ancestry: Ferdinand Leon in the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850–2010
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Ferdinand 1922 births 1988 deaths 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters African-American male writers African-American screenwriters African-American television writers American male television writers American television writers