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Phil Leeds is one of those for whom the phrase "character actor" was invented. A slight, wizened man with a rubbery face, bulging eyes and a Jimmy Durante-like nose, he excelled at playing weaselly little snitches, con artists, or just a neighborhood eccentric who always had something up his sleeve. Born in New York, his entrance into the "entertainment" business began with a job as a peanut vendor at the city's baseball stadiums, and from there, he began a stint as a stand-up comic in the "Borscht Belt" up in the Catskill Mountains, opening for many of the top acts of the day. He had a short career on the Broadway stage before entering the army during World War II, and upon his discharge, he resumed his stand-up career. Unfortunately, he got caught up in the McCarthy-era, anti-Communism hysteria in the early 1950s and found himself among many entertainers who were blacklisted, and it took him a while to work out of that. He made his film debut in 1968, as Dr. Shand in Rosemary's Baby (1968) and from there on, his career was set. He had small roles in a good number of films, but he did a huge amount of television work starting in the mid-'50s, appearing in everything from sitcoms to westerns to cop shows.

A stand-up comedian for years, he was the opening act for such stars as
<a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000659/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Barbra Streisand</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000896/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Harry Belafonte</a>, and the team of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001566/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Mike Nichols</a> and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0561938/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Elaine May</a>.

Raised in the Bronx, he was a peanut vendor for some time near Yankee
Stadium and Manhattan&#39;s Polo Grounds.

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Phil Leeds

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