Leonard Fenton

Leonard Fenton
Fenton as Harold Legg in EastEnders
Born
Leonard Finestein

(1926-04-29)29 April 1926
London, England
Died29 January 2022(2022-01-29) (aged 95)
Hillingdon, London, England
Education
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • painter
Years active1958–2019
TelevisionEastEnders (1985–1997, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2018–2019)
Spouse
Madeline Thorner
​
​
(m. 1967, separated)​
Children4

Leonard Fenton (né Finestein; 29 April 1926 – 29 January 2022) was an English actor, director and painter, best known for his role as Harold Legg in EastEnders.

Early life

Fenton was born Leonard Finestein[1][2] in Stepney, the son of Fanny (Goldberg) and Morris Feinstein, a women's garment maker. His parents were Ashkenazi Jews with ancestral roots in Eastern Europe (Riga in Latvia and Lithuania).[2] He attended Raine Foundation Grammar School from 1937 to 1944.[3] Fenton originally trained to be a civil engineer at King's College London and during World War II he was conscripted as an army engineer. He worked in this profession for five years after leaving the army, but eventually decided on a career change.[2] He took up acting and won a scholarship to attend the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.[4]

Career

His career in acting spanned over sixty years.[5] One of his earliest acting breaks came when he was offered a role by Orson Welles in his play Chimes at Midnight.[6] Subsequent acting credits include: Studio Four (1962); Colditz (1974); Secret Army (1977); Z-Cars (1978); Play for Today (1981); Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983), and Shine on Harvey Moon (1982), where he played the Austrian Jew, Erich Gottlieb.[7] In the theatre, Fenton played the role of Willie to Billie Whitelaw’s Winnie in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at the Royal Court Theatre in 1979, directed by Beckett himself.[8]

Fenton was best known for playing Harold Legg, one of the original characters in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. The character appeared from the show's inception in 1985 until 1997, returning for brief stints in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2018 until 2019. The character was originally one of the main focal points of the programme, but after 1989 he became less central. After the character's retirement in 1997, Fenton's appearances in EastEnders were infrequent.[9] He made a single appearance in 2004 at the funeral of Mark Fowler, and in June 2007 to counsel Dot Branning regarding her concerns about Romanian 'foundling' baby, Tomas.[10]

Fenton's subsequent television credits included Rumpole of the Bailey; So You Think You've Got Troubles (1991); Love Hurts (1993) and The Bill (1985; 2001; 2005), among others.[7] In the West End, he performed in two productions by Lindsay Anderson, Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and Ben Travers' last play, The Bed Before Yesterday.[7] He performed in many radio plays, including The Hobbit as the Elvenking, and The Lord of the Rings as Daddy Twofoot, both for BBC Radio 4.[7] Amongst Fenton's other broadcasting work was the BBC webcast of the Doctor Who story Death Comes to Time.[7] On 17 February 2006, he made a personal appearance on the Channel 4 entertainment show, The Friday Night Project. His film credits included roles in Up the Creek (1958), The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), Robin Hood Junior (1975), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), Morons from Outer Space (1985), and the British horror movie The Zombie Diaries (2006).[7]

In December 2004, at the age of 78, Fenton made his directorial debut with After Chekhov, written by four contemporary writers Allen Drury, Martin Jago, Andrew Neil and Olwen Wymark in the 100th anniversary year of Chekhov's death. The piece, produced by Little London Theatre Company was performed in the Soho Theatre Studio.[11] In 2012 and again in 2013, Fenton appeared in a production of Cross Purpose, directed by Stephen Whitson at the King's Head Theatre, London.[12][13]

On 25 July 2018, it was confirmed that Fenton would reprise his role as Dr. Harold Legg in EastEnders in late 2018.[14] This stint lasted until 15 February 2019, when the character died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.[15]

Personal life

Fenton and cellist Madeline Thorner[16] married in 1967. They had four children and later separated.[2][1] Aside from acting, he was also a professional painter and held several exhibitions.[2] Before the 2010 general election, Fenton came out in support of the Labour Party, after appearing in their election broadcast.[17]

Death

He died in Hillingdon,[18] London, on 29 January 2022, at the age of 95.[19][20] His former co-star June Brown memorialised him as "a charming man in all ways, first as a person and then as an actor, extremely polite and kind".[21]

Filmography

[7]

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Up the Creek Policeman
1959 Breakout Prison Officer Uncredited
Third Man on the Mountain Uncredited
1964 The Devil-Ship Pirates Quintana
1974 Brown Ale with Gertie Charles Gubbins Short film
1975 Robin Hood Junior Messenger
The Virtuoso Hazard Television film
1978 Panic Policeman Short film
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street Company Accountant
1985 Morons from Outer Space Commissionaire
1998 Miracle at Midnight Magnus Abrams Television film
2005 The Bridge Simon Short film
Shalom Grandad Short film
2006 The Zombie Diaries Bill
2007 Underground Terry Page

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1960 Hotel Imperial Porter Episode: "The Leopardess in 424"
Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Halloran Episode: "Interpol"
Here Lies Miss Sabry Cabbie Episode: "The Right People"
1962 Studio 4 Police Superintendent Episode: "The Intrigue"
BBC Sunday-Night Play Mr. Johnson Episode: "A Child in the House"
1963 Moonstrike Gendarme Episode: "The Factory"
1964 Catch Hand Brickie Episode: "It's Only Bricks and Mortar"
1966 Mrs Thursday Vincent Episode: "The Sitting Tenant"
1967 Half Hour Story Tom Episode: "Hawks and Doves"
The Gamblers Max Episode: "Oil and Water"
1970 Diamond Crack Diamond Taxi Driver Episode: "Not for Sale"
1971 Owen, M.D. Reporter Episode: "A Country Pursuit"
1972 The Brothers Walpole Episode: "A Worm In The Bud"
1973 Play for Today Maths Master Episode: "Speech Day"
New Scotland Yard Station Sergeant Episode: "Property, Dogs & Women"
Second City Firsts Hymie Episode: "Patrons"
Beryl's Lot Milkman Episode: "Entente Cordiale"
Jackanory Playhouse King Episode: "The Long-Nosed Princess"
1974 Colditz Unterfeldwebel Ernst Krueger Episode: "The Gambler"
Justice Sidney Ryman Episode: "Duty of Care"
Fall of Eagles Mirkov Episode: "The Secret War"
The Early Life of Stephen Hind Edouard Episode: "Episode 1"
1975 A Legacy Friedrich Merz Miniseries; 5 episodes
1977 Secret Army Driver Episode: "Child's Play"
1978 The Law Centre Superintendent Episode: "Fly Away, Peter, Fly Away, Paul"
Z-Cars Detective Superintendent Holiday Episode: "Prey"
1979 Play for Today Hostage Episode: "A Hole in Babylon"
The Fourth Arm Corporal Jack 'Miff' Moffat Recurring role; 7 episodes
Blue Peter Special Assignment Lockwood Kipling Episode: "Rudyard Kipling at Bateman's"
1980 Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn Doctor Miniseries; 3 episodes
1981 Play for Today Mr. Smith Episode: "A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado"
1984 Auf Wiedersehen, Pet German Proprietor Episode: "The Fugitive"
The Brief Herr Braun Episode: "And Then Where Do You Go?"
1984–1985 Shine on Harvey Moon Erich Gottlieb Recurring role; 11 episodes
1985 The Bill Mr. Lee Episode: "The Sweet Smell of Failure"
1985–1997, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2018–2019 EastEnders Harold Legg Series regular; 279 episodes
1988 Armada Quotation Narrator Miniseries; 2 episodes
1991 So You Think You've Got Troubles Rabbi Glick Recurring role; 2 episodes
1993 Love Hurts Rabbi Zeidel Episode: "For a Few Dollars More"
1998 Wogan's Web Doctor Episode: "Episode 14"
2001 The Bill Archie Dodds Episode: "Lifelines"
2005 The Bill Sammy Pearl Episode: "Closing Ranks"
2011 Doctors Mr. Mendelson Episode: "The Last Angel Cake"

References

  1. ^ a b Hayward, Anthony (1 February 2022). "Leonard Fenton obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Leonard Fenton ", Something Jewish. URL last accessed on 25 September 2006 Archived 30 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "The Old Raineians' Association Archived 16 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine", DavidSpencer.com. URL last accessed on 4 July 2007
  4. ^ Lynch, Tony (1986). EastEnders Special. BBC books. ISBN 978-0-86227-384-2.
  5. ^ "EastEnders actor Leonard Fenton dies aged 95". ITV News. 31 January 2022.
  6. ^ Live, Coventry (19 June 2008). "Leonard puts in the leg work at the RSC". CoventryLive.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Leonard Fenton". bfi.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Leonard Fenton, who played Dr Legg in EastEnders, has died aged 95". Sky News.
  9. ^ "Dr Legg dies – EastEnders confirms date of tragic final scenes". Radio Times. 5 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Leonard Fenton". IMDb. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  11. ^ Phillips, Katie (16 December 2004). "After Chekhov review at Soho Theatre Studio London". The Stage. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Lea, Simon. "Cross Purpose". The Camus Society, 2012". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  13. ^ "IndieLondon: Cross Purpose returns to the King's Head Theatre - Your London Reviews". indielondon.co.uk.
  14. ^ "EastEnders: Original character Doctor Legg to return". BBC News. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  15. ^ "EastEnders' Dr Legg returns for reunion with Dot". Digital Spy. 18 October 2018.
  16. ^ Kingsley, Hilary (1990). The EastEnders Handbook. BBC books. ISBN 9780563362920.
  17. ^ "EastEnders: Jewish actor Leonard Fenton to return as Dr Legg". 26 July 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  18. ^ "DOR Q1/2022 in HILLINGDON (236-1B)". GRO Online Indexes. General Register Office for England and Wales. Entry Number 523400369. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  19. ^ "EastEnders actor Leonard Fenton dies aged 95". The Independent. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Leonard Fenton, actor who played Dr Legg in EastEnders, dies at 95". The Guardian. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  21. ^ "BBC EastEnders Dot Cotton icon June Brown leads tribute as co-star Leonard Fenton dies aged 95". Manchester Evening News. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.