Leonard Frey

Leonard Frey (September 4, 1938 – August 24, 1988) was an American actor. Frey received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1971 musical film Fiddler on the Roof. He made his stage debut in an Off-Broadway production of Little Mary Sunshine and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for The National Health. Life and career Frey was born in Brooklyn, New York. After attending James Madison High School, he studied art at Cooper Union, with designs on becoming a painter, then switched to acting at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse under acting coach Sanford Meisner, and pursued a career in theater. Frey received critical acclaim in 1968 for his performance as Harold in off-Broadway's The Boys in the Band. He appeared with the rest of the original cast in the 1970 film version, directed by William Friedkin. Frey was nominated for a 1975 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in The National Health. Other stage credits included revivals of The Time of Your Life (1969), Beggar on Horseback (1970), Twelfth Night (1972) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1980). He also played Clare Quilty in the Alan Jay Lerner musical Lolita, My Love which closed, before reaching Broadway, in 1971.