And the Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures [Hardcover]

Sheldon Leonard (Author), Andy Griffith (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

From Booklist: Actor-director-producer Leonard has a real gift for storytelling that he displays to the fullest in a breezy, readable memoir of his life in show business. Starting out as an actor in 1930s New York in such forgotten hit plays as Hotel Alimony, Fly Away Home, and Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Leonard had the foresight and financial need to leap first to radio and movies, then to television, in which he created or produced such rerun perennials as Make Room for Daddy, The Andy Griffith Show, and the controversial (for its time) I Spy. Along the way, Leonard met lots and lots of fascinating people--John Garfield, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Carl Reiner, and Bill Cosby, to mention a few of the dozens about whom Leonard has a funny story or three to tell. Some of these stories are well known, such as those of the closeness of the writers, actors, and staff of The Dick Van Dyke Show; others are not, such as those of Leonard's various, sometimes dangerous, adventures around the world while filming I Spy. -Jack Helbig

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Actor-director-producer Leonard has a real gift for storytelling that he displays to the fullest in a breezy, readable memoir of his life in show business. Starting out as an actor in 1930s New York in such forgotten hit plays as Hotel Alimony, Fly Away Home, and Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Leonard had the foresight and financial need to leap first to radio and movies, then to television, in which he created or produced such rerun perennials as Make Room for Daddy, The Andy Griffith Show, and the controversial (for its time) I Spy. Along the way, Leonard met lots and lots of fascinating people--John Garfield, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Carl Reiner, and Bill Cosby, to mention a few of the dozens about whom Leonard has a funny story or three to tell. Some of these stories are well known, such as those of the closeness of the writers, actors, and staff of The Dick Van Dyke Show; others are not, such as those of Leonard's various, sometimes dangerous, adventures around the world while filming I Spy. Jack Helbig

Review

In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Sheldon Leonard has never lost his sense of humor. Born in Brooklyn, Sheldon Leonard spent his first decade in show business on Broadway. But when he answered the call from Hollywood, it wasn't long before he dropped the comic mask to assume his most enduring movie image, the gunman/gangster who was to share the screen with Dick Powell, Myrna Loy, Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacall -- as well as Abbot and Costello. As the 50s began, it was time for his career to change direction, heading first for radio and then for the advancing phenomena known as television. Leonard has been a very successful actor, writer, producer, and director. And The Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures is a the record of a truly remarkable multifaceted career recalled to life with gusto, honesty, barbed wit, and no regrets. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 227 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 1st Limelight ed edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879101849
• ISBN-13: 978-0879101848
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,419,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying read of Major Hollywood actor, Producer, September 30, 2007

By 

Brian Hunt (Lexington KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And the Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures (Hardcover)

This is an enjoyable read written by Sheldon Leonard. Sharing memories of his 5 plus decades in motion pictures, radio, and his ultimate success in TV. He has been a major contributor to television comedy beginning with the Danny Thomas Show followed by such greats as Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle,Dick van Dyke,I Spy, and many others. From his telling he was quite a pioneer in equal opportunity, giving a fairly unknown Bill Cosby his first tv break in an industry still very closed toward black actors. Very interesting reading. Highly recommend to all interested in Entertainment personalities!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Major Disappointment With Few Stories Other Than I Spy, July 21, 2011

By 

Mediaman "TVviewer" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: And the Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures (Hardcover)

This book is a major disappointment from a man who had some of the greatest TV hits of the 1960s. His mind seems fuzzy and he admits in the opening pages that he did no research to verify his information. So instead of getting a book filled with inside details and fascinating facts, Leonard meanders through boring generic stories it sounds like he has told a hundred times at cocktail parties.

The first section of the book is really dull, where he talks about his early years. There is nothing of substance and most people will have no idea what he is talking about when he mentions plays of the 1930s and radio shows of the 1940s. When he gets to his movie years he alludes to some of the films he made but offers no insightful stories. How can you be in the film that Bogie and Bacall fell in love doing and not have stories about it???

He claims to have created the first spinoff in the Andy Griffith Show (completely wrong--about five or six other spinoffs had already been on TV by that time) and he says he picked the woman who played Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) from the start, yet in the actual pilot she played a completely different character and wasn't Aunt Bee. Namely, he doesn't even state his own show's history correctly.

Once he gets to TV he skimps again, telling little about Make Room for Daddy and The Andy Griffith Show. It's interesting that he takes credit, though, for almost every success (discovering stars, coming up with stories, etc.) At one point he claims he is the one who picked Jim Nabors for Gomer Pyle, yet later he tells how the show was put together and he had nothing to do with it! If you are a fan of any of these shows you'll be incredibly upset that the only information he provides has been told many times elsewhere. He only has one or two stories for each show that he spent years doing!

He does, however, redeem himself slightly with the last portion of the book, which is devoted to I Spy. There are many more specifics and he obviously loved doing that show. Many of the I Spy stories have to do with his travels but they are things that have not been told elsewhere and keeps this from being a one-star book.

This great producer should have had a five-star book filled with inside stories about the amazing programs he put together. Instead these are just the forgetful ramblings of an old man who doesn't have much new to say.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book, April 21, 2010

By 

Markku Ojanen (Lempäälä Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: And the Show Goes On: Broadway and Hollywood Adventures (Hardcover)

There is only one problem with this book. It's just +200 pages. I would like to read more, because he writes so well. If somebody could be called versatile, this author is the one. Sheldon Leonard has tried everything. He is pleasantly modest, but tells about his successes, too. Which are plenty. Read this book, it is one of the best reminiscences by actors/directors/producers. You will love it.