Leonard Fenton

Career His career in acting spanned over sixty years. One of his earliest acting breaks came when he was offered a role by Orson Welles in his play Chimes at Midnight. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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

Personal life Fenton and cellist Madeline Thorner married in 1967. They had four children and later separated.

Death He died in Hillingdon, London, on 29 January 2022, at the age of 95. 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".

Filmography

Film Television Year Title Role Notes1960 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"