Eddie Leonard

Eddie Leonard (October 17, 1870 – July 28, 1941), born Lemuel Gordon Toney, was a vaudevillian and a man considered the greatest American minstrel of his day, at a time when minstrel shows were an acceptable and popular mainstream entertainment in the United States. He was called "last of the great minstrels" in his 1941 obituary in Time. He performed in vaudeville for 45 years before that medium faded in the 1920s, and was known for such songs as "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" and "Roly Boly Eyes". He published his memoir titled What a Life I'm Telling You in 1934.

Early life Lemuel Gordon Toney was born in 1871 or on October 18, 1875, sources vary, in Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia, to Ellen and Richard Toney. As a boy, his family moved to South Richmond and Manchester. At the age of 12, he started his stage career at Putnam's Theatre Comique at East Franklin Street in Richmond. He then took up the stage name Eddie Leonard. He also worked as a water boy at Tredegar Iron Works in Belle Isle. He performed alongside Bill Robinson in Richmond.

Career Leonard wanted to be a baseball player, and tried out for John McGraw and played for the Baltimore Orioles as a center fielder briefly. He was unsuccessful, but danced and sang for the players in the clubhouse, and George H. Primrose discovered him. Primrose subsequently hired him as a minstrel. He subsequently performed with the George Primrose Minstrels.

In 1890, Leonard left Richmond with a road show. He would find his way to New York City, and was hired in the show McFadden's Flats'''. Around 1900, Leonard joined Jack Haverly's minstrel show. In 1903, Leonard danced and sang the song "Don't Do Nothin' for Nobody That Won't Do Nothin' For You" with Primrose and Decker. He became known for a ragtime song style that Leonard called "syncopated syllabication" and a "soft shoe" dance.

Partial filmography Melody Lane (1929) The Minstrel Show (1929) Rainbow's End If I Had My Way'' (1940)