Len Lesser, the veteran character actor who played Uncle Leo on “Seinfeld,” died yesterday at the age of 88 from cancer-related pneumonia. Yikes. That sounds like the worst kind of pneumonia.
Lesser’s lengthy list of television credits included parts on “Get Smart,” “That Girl,” “The Munsters,” “The Monkees,” “The Rockford Files,” “thirtysomething,” “ER,” and “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which featured Lesser in a recurring role as the arm-shaking Garvin. His film credits included “Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Kelly’s Heroes,” “Birdman of Alcatraz” and “Death Hunt.” He most recently appeared on the TV drama “Castle.” [AP]
“Seinfeld” castmates Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander remembered Lesser fondly:
“I’ll never forget when Uncle Leo was in prison and tattooed ‘Jerry Hello’ on his knuckles,” Seinfeld said in [a] statement, adding that Lesser was “a very sweet guy” and that the cast “always loved having him on the show.”
“Len was a tremendous guy,” [Alexander] tweeted. “He was a smart actor/comedian who knew exactly what he was doing in the creation of Uncle Leo.” [NYDN]
Ah, Twitter. Always such a wonderful medium to eulogize someone. “RIP Len. gone 2 soon. ur in our <3s and prayers. miss u 4eva”
