Born in Chicago, Illinois. A stage actor from age 14, he acted and sang with the California Light Opera Company before entering films as an actor with the Selig Polyscope Company in 1907. He starred in such early silents as CODE OF HONOR (1907), THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH (1910), and ROBINSON CRUSOE (1913) and made his debut as director with the serial THE MASTER KEY (1914), in which he also played a role. Many of his early films starred his first wife, Mae Murray. His second wife, Gertrude Olmstead, appeared in several of his films of the late 20s. Leonard directed scores of silent and sound Hollywood films over a period spanning four decades, working for such studios as Universal, Paramount, and his own company. But it was as an MGM director that he made his best-known films from the mid-20s through the mid-50s. His specialty was the high-gloss glamour film, and his pictures ranged from soggy melodramas and saccharine romances to lavish musicals. He worked with some of MGM's most glittering stars, including Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, and Fred Astaire. He wasn't too creative a director, nor did he claim to be, but he held his own among Hollywood's top craftsmen and turned out a good number of slick entertainment films, including STRANGE INTERLUDE (1932), DANCING LADY (1933), THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, MAYTIME (1937), THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1938), BROADWAY SERENADE (1939), NEW MOON and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (both 1940), ZIEGFELD GIRL and WHEN LADIES MEET (both 1941), STAND BY FOR ACTION (1943), B.F.'S DAUGHTER (1948) and IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (1949). He retired after KELLY AND ME (1957).    Nominated for Picture 1929-30: THE DIVORCÉE - Producer    Nominated for Directing 1929-30: THE DIVORCÉE    Nominated for Directing 1936: THE GREAT ZIEGFELD 3 nominations