Born Leonard Elliott Gothelf in New York City, Elliott began his career as a comedienne in
nightclubs and in
vaudeville in the 1920s. He remained active as a nightclub performer in Manhattan for five decades. He appeared in seven more Broadway production during his career; including Lenore Coffee and William Joyce Cowen's
Family Portrait (1939, as
Judas; with
Judith Anderson);
William Shakespeare's
As You Like It (1941, as Touchstone);
Clay Warnick's
Dream With Music (1944, as Sinbad);
George Marion, Jr. and
Karl Farkas's
Marinka (1945, as Francis);
Molière's
The Would-Be Gentleman (1946, as Covielle; with
Bobby Clark); Albert Wineman Barker's ''Grandma's Diary'' (1948, as Boris); and
Howard Dietz and
Arthur Schwartz's
The Gay Life (1961-1962, as Franz). He also appeared in light operas and musicals in summer stock. Other Hollywood comedies he appeared in included
Bachelor Daddy (1941, as Clark),
It Started with Eve (1941, as Reverend Stebbins), and
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970, as M. Henri). He also appeared as Ken in the drama
Weddings and Babies which won the Critics Award at the
Venice Film Festival in 1958. Elliott's first appeared on television in 1948 in the title role of
Captain Applejack for
Kraft Television Theatre. Elliott portrayed
Merlin in the 1955 television adaptation of the
Rodgers and Hart musical
A Connecticut Yankee. He appeared twice on
The Billy Rose Show in 1950-1951, and twice on
Mister Peepers in 1952. Other television programs he appeared as a guest on included
Star Tonight (1955),
The Phil Silvers Show (1957),
Naked City (1962),
ABC Stage 67 (1966), and
Coronet Blue (1967). Elliott died the age of 84 at
Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers on New Year's Eve 1989. ==References==