There may have been another year where character actors haven't fared so well and I just don't remember it. Even if that was the case, I'm sure there wasn't a year where so many have passed in such a short time span close to one another. This most recent one makes yet another within just a couple of months.
"Seinfeld" actor Len Lesser died in his sleep Wednesday morning in Burbank, California, of complications from pneumonia. He was 88-years-old.
It should probably first be known that I am a huge fan of the "Seinfeld" show. I latched on to it during its original run before we would eventually find out that Michael Richards evidently has a problem with Black people. I could have really cared less at that time that the show didn't have any of us in its cast. Funny is funny and "Seinfeld" was consistently hilarious.
What made the series so good even more than its four main actors was its non-stop barrage of amazing ancillary characters. Some of them were neighbors and friends that Seinfeld and the crew encountered. Some of them were Seinfeld family members. Uncle Leo was the later and he never disappointed.
As soon as I found out about Uncle Leo's passing I immediately started thinking about all of his classic moments on the show. Like when he opened up a letter bomb that blew off his eyebrows then had to have eyebrows drawn on and they were done so to mistakenly make him look angry all the time. Or when Jerry set him up for stealing in the bookstore. Or taking the watch out of the trash can. These descriptions mean nothing in and of themselves if you've never watched the show. However, if you do decide to watch it, make sure to catch those episodes as Uncle Leo was pure gold.
Of course Lesser had other roles to his credit. According to his bio he made more than 500 film, television and stage appearances. Apparently he had spots on classics like "The Monkees", "Get Smart", "Quincy M.E." and even more recently "Everybody Loves Raymond". That's all fine and good but he'll always be Uncle Leo to me.
Rest in peace, Uncle Leo.
