Len Lesser

Blessed with a craggy face, a New York accent and a talent for both drama and comedy, Len Lesser was a busy character actor who essayed numerous tough guys, thugs and oddballs in a richly varied career in film and on stage and television that lasted over five decades. He received his showbiz start during the era of 1950s live television before graduating to feature films like "The Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962). His onscreen versatility led to larger roles in 1970s classic features like "Kelly's Heroes" (1970) and "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976), but he was perhaps best remembered as Jerry Seinfeld's bizarre Uncle Leo on several seasons of "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-1998). Apart from a financial windfall earned through syndication, Lesser's role secured him wider exposure and more work as he entered his seventh and even eighth decades, and unquestionably raised the degree of respect afforded to a character actor of his pedigree.