Leonard Barr

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Leonard Barr
Barr as Shady Tree in Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Born	Leonard Barra 27 September 1903, West Virginia
Died	22 November 1980 West Hollywood, California
Occupation	Comedian, film actor
Years active	1970 - 1980 (Film and TV)

Leonard Barr (September 27, 1903 – November 22, 1980) was an old-style, one-liner standup American comic in the tradition of Henny Youngman. He was allegedly an uncle of Dean Martin, or at least was introduced that way on some appearances on Martin's TV shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Thanks to Martin, and TV talk shows, he achieved a significant amount of visibility and recognition in the twilight of his career.

He had a brief cameo in The Sting, appropriately as a burlesque comic. That is also the way his character is listed in the credits, as an anonymous comedian. However, in the wings of the stage just before the comic's entrance, he has a brief conversation with Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), who addresses him as "Leonard".

He is perhaps best remembered internationally for starring in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever in which he played Shady Tree, a stand up comedian in Las Vegas who was assassinated by henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd.

He also appeared in some five episodes of The Odd Couple in 1975 and, albeit unnamed on an episode of M*A*S*H as a USO Comedian.

[edit] The Sting

In the film The Sting, after Hooker's girlfriend Crystal comes offstage (in the foreground of the scene) from doing her burlesque act, Leonard goes onstage (in the background) and tells a joke to the out-of-sight audience. Hooker and Crystal mostly talk over the joke, so the film's audience only hears the punchline. The complete joke involves a man who had just bought a live chicken and then impulsively goes to a movie theater, hiding the chicken in his pants so the ticket-taker won't hassle him about bringing a bird into the theater. Once in his seat, sitting next to two women, he opens his fly so the chicken can stick out its head and breathe easily. In the darkened theater, the women misinterpret what the man is doing. Most of this part of the joke is heard in the film: "The first woman says to her friend, 'This man's fly is open!' The second woman says, 'When you've seen one, you've seen 'em all!' The first woman says, 'Yeah, but this one's eating my popcorn!'"