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Ron Leibman (/ˈliːbmən/; October 11, 1937 – December 6, 2019) was an American actor. He won both the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 1993 for his performance as Roy Cohn in Angels in America. Leibman also won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1979 for his role as Martin 'Kaz' Kazinsky in his short-lived crime drama series Kaz.

Leibman appeared in films such as Where's Poppa? (1970), The Hot Rock (1972), Norma Rae (1979), and Zorro, The Gay Blade (1982). Later in his career, he became widely known for his recurring role as Dr. Leonard Green on Friends (1996–2004), and for providing the voice of Ron Cadillac on Archer (2013–2021).

Early life

Leibman was born in Manhattan to Grace (née Marks), who was of Russian-Jewish descent, and Murray Leibman, a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked in the garment business. Leibman graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Career

Leibman was a member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s, and was admitted to the Actors Studio shortly thereafter.

Leibman made his film debut alongside George Segal in the dark comedy Where's Poppa? (1970). He then starred alongside Robert Redford and Segal in the heist film The Hot Rock (1972) and he was featured as a northern Jewish union organizer in the award-winning movie Norma Rae (1979). In 1980, he appeared in Up The Academy, a "gross-out" comedy set at a reform school.

His other film appearances include Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), Your Three Minutes Are Up (1973) with Beau Bridges and Janet Margolin, Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981), Auto Focus (2002) and Garden State (2004).

Leibman won an Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series, in 1979 for his convict-turned-lawyer character in Kaz (1978–79), a series which he also created and co-wrote. He was later nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the role of Morris Huffner in Christmas Eve.

He co-starred with his second wife, Jessica Walter, in Tartuffe at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1986, and they co-starred again in Neil Simon's play Rumors in 1988 on Broadway. They also appeared together as husband and wife in the film Dummy (2003) and in the TV series Law & Order in the episode "House Counsel" in 1995.

Leibman received a 1993 Tony Award for his performance as Roy Cohn in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America.

He played Dr. Leonard Green, Rachel Green's overbearing father, on the sitcom Friends. He had a recurring role on The Sopranos as Dr. Plepler. In 1983, Leibman starred in the Australian movie Phar Lap as David J. Davis, the owner of legendary New Zealand/Australian racehorse Phar Lap, which won the 1930 Melbourne Cup and the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap.

In 2013, Leibman began appearing as a recurring character on the TV series Archer as Ron Cadillac, the husband to Malory Archer, voiced by his real-life wife Jessica Walter.

Personal life

Leibman was married twice. His first wife was actress Linda Lavin, to whom he was married from 1969 to 1981. In 1983, he married actress Jessica Walter.

Death

Leibman died from complications of pneumonia in Manhattan on December 6, 2019, at age 82.

Filmography

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ron Leibman" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Film

Television

Stage

References

1. Erens, Patricia (August 22, 1988). The Jew in American Cinema. Indiana University Press. p. 363. ISBN 9780253204936.
2. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (December 6, 2019). "Ron Leibman, Tony Winner for 'Angels,' Is Dead at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
3. ^ Arkatov, Janice. " 'Tartuffe' Stars Aren't Just Acting As A Couple". Los Angeles Times. July 15, 1986.
4. Ron Leibman at the Wisconsin Historical Society's Actors Studio audio collection.
5. "Ron Leibman Emmy" emmys.com, retrieved February 19, 2018
6. Kaz tvguide.com, retrieved February 18, 2018
7. Rumors Playbill, retrieved February 18, 2018
8. ^ "Ron Leibman Credits" tvguide.com, retrieved February 18, 2018
9. Dummy tcm.com, retrieved February 18, 2018
10. " 'Law & Order', Season 5, Episode 10" rottentomatoes.com, retrieved February 18, 2018
11. Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Playbill, retrieved February 18, 2018
12. Lefkowitz, David. "Playbill On-Line's Brief Encounter with Ron Leibman" Playbill, 1999
13. Phar Lap tcm.com, retrieved February 18, 2018
14. Bosworth, Patricia. "Ron Lunt and Linda Fontanne?". The New York Times. May 31, 1970.
15. ^ Johnson, Bonnie (July 16, 1984). "Egg Rolls Brought Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter to the Altar and Left Them Hungry for More". People. He had been divorced in 1981 from actress Linda (Alice) Lavin after a 12-year, childless marriage (she is now married to actor Kip Niven), and Jessica had long since recovered from the 1978 breakup of her 12-year marriage to Ross Bowman,
16. Koseluk, Chris (December 6, 2019). "Ron Leibman, Actor in 'Angels in America,' 'Where's Poppa?' and 'Friends,' Dies at 82". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
17. ^ "Friends actor Ron Leibman dies at the age of 82". BBC. 7 December 2019.

External links

• Ron Leibman at IMDb 
• Ron Leibman at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
• The New School for Drama

• 1937 births
• 2019 deaths
• Male actors from New York City
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• 21st-century American Jews
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• Drama Desk Award winners
• Deaths from pneumonia in New York City
• Jewish American male actors
• Obie Award recipients
• Ohio Wesleyan University alumni
• Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Manhattan
• The New School faculty
• Tony Award winners