In Remembrance: Leonard Gaines

     Leonard Gaines, a comedy writer who turned his career towards acting in the 1970s and 80s, has passed away on February 15, 2007 in West Hollywood, CA. He was 84.

     Born September 13, 1922, Gaines’ early show business experience include working as a writer of The Sid Caesar Show and as an assistant for Around The World In 80 Days (1956) producer Mike Todd. Throughout the 1960s he wrote and produced several comedy albums, most notable 1962’s At Home With That Other First Family, a takeoff on Vaughn Meader’s popular The First Family record. He partnered with Mike Todd, Jr. in 1964 to produce “America Be Seated,” one of the first integrated musical reviews, for the New York Worlds Fair.

     Gaines made his motion picture debut in 1977 when his friend, director Martin Scorsese cast him as a record company president in New York, New York. Gaines’ roles were small character bits such as an IRS official in Blue Collar (1978), an agent in Rocky II (1979) and a New Jersey club owner in The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The 8^th Dimension (1984).

     His last film appearance was in 1992’s Scent Of A Woman as a car salesman who allows a blind Al Pacino to take a Ferrari for a test drive.