# Ron Leibman

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 (2013–2016).

## Early life

Leibman was born October 11, 1937, 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 film Norma Rae (1979). In 1980, he starred in Up The Academy, a "gross-out" comedy set at a reform school and produced by MAD Magazine. (Reaction to the film was so poor that it was repudiated by both MAD and Leibman himself, who had his name expunged from the credits and promotional material.)
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). A TV movie role of Leibman's was the 1988 legal thriller Terrorist On Trial where he plays a Jewish lawyer who defends an Arab defendant accused of a terrorist attack in Spain and extracted to Virginia. Leibman costars in that with Robert Davi as the defendant, and Sam Waterston as the prosecuting attorney. It may be found as In The Hands Of The Enemy.
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 film 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. They remained married until his death in 2019.

## Death

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

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | Where's Poppa? | Sidney Hocheiser | Film debut |
| 1972 | The Hot Rock | Murch | |
| 1972 | Slaughterhouse-Five | Paul Lazzaro | |
| 1973 | Your Three Minutes Are Up | Mike | American version of the classic Il Sorpasso (1962) |
| 1974 | The Super Cops | David Greenberg | |
| 1976 | Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Rudy Montague | |
| 1979 | Norma Rae | Reuben | |
| 1980 | Up the Academy | Major Vaughn Liceman | Uncredited Nominated – The Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Supporting Actor |
| 1981 | Zorro: The Gay Blade | Esteban | The Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Supporting Actor The Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst On-Screen Couple (shared with Brenda Vaccaro) |
| 1983 | Phar Lap | Dave Davis | |
| 1983 | Romantic Comedy | Leo | |
| 1984 | Door to Door | Larry Price | |
| 1984 | Rhinestone | Freddie Ugo | Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor |
| 1988 | Seven Hours to Judgment | David Reardon | |
| 1996 | Night Falls on Manhattan | Morgenstern | |
| 1999 | Just the Ticket | Barry the Book | |
| 2002 | Personal Velocity | Arvam Herskowitz | Also known as Personal Velocity: Three Portraits |
| 2002 | Dummy | Lou | |
| 2002 | Auto Focus | Lenny | |
| 2004 | Garden State | Dr. Cohen | |
| 2010 | A Little Help | Warren Dunning | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1963 | The DuPont Show of the Week | Carmatti | Episode: "Ride with Terror" |
| 1963 | Ride with Terror | Carmatti | Television film |
| 1964 | The Edge of Night | Johnny | Television debut |
| 1966 | Hawk | Eddie Toll | Episode: "The Man Who Owned Everyone" |
| 1975 | The Art of Crime | Roman Grey | Television film |
| 1975 | Police Story | Ray Oberstar | Episode: "Vice: 24 Hours" |
| 1977 | Martinelli, Outside Man | Richie Martinelli | Television film |
| 1978 | A Question of Guilt | Detective Louis Kazinsky | Television film |
| 1978–79 | Kaz | Martin 'Kaz' Kazinsky | Series regular / also writer; 23 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series |
| 1980 | Linda in Wonderland | Unknown | Television film |
| 1981 | Rivkin: Bounty Hunter | Rivkin | Television film |
| 1985 | Comedy Story | Joey Caruso | Episode: "Side by Side", also writer |
| 1986 | Many Happy Returns | Jerry Brenner | Television film |
| 1986 | Christmas Eve | Morris Huffner | Television film Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television |
| 1987 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Sam Greene | Episode: "Class Act: A Teacher's Story" |
| 1988 | Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Sam Ajami | Simon Resnick | Television film; aka Hostile Witness |
| 1988 | Aaron's Way | Unknown | Episode: "The Men Will Cheer and the Boys Will Shout" |
| 1990–92 | Murder, She Wrote | Darryl Heyward / Roland Trent | 2 episodes |
| 1991–92 | Pacific Station | Detective Al Burkhardt | Series regular; 13 episodes |
| 1992 | Fish Police | | Voice, episode: "The Codfather" |
| 1995 | Duckman | Geofredo | Voice, Episode: "Papa Oom M.O.W. M.O.W." |
| 1995–96 | Central Park West | Allen Rush | Voice, 21 episodes |
| 1995–2000 | Law & Order | Barry Nathanson / Mark Paul Kopell | 2 episodes |
| 1996–2004 | Friends | Dr. Leonard Green | Recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 1996 | Rugrats | Rabbi / Old Man | Voice, episode: "Chanukah" |
| 1997 | Don King: Only in America | Harry Shondor | Television film |
| 1998–2002 | Holding the Baby | Stan Peterson | Series regular; 13 episodes |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Stan Villani | Recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 2003 | The Practice | Attorney Robert Colby | Episode: "Concealing Evidence" |
| 2006 | The Sopranos | Dr. Lior Plepler | Recurring role; 3 episodes |
| 2013–16 | Archer | Ron Cadillac | Voice, recurring role; 10 episodes |

### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Camino Real | Kilroy | |
| 1959 | Legend of Lovers | Orpheus | |
| 1959 | A View From the Bridge | Rudolfo | |
| 1960 | Dead End | Unknown | |
| 1960 | The Premise | Unknown | |
| 1963 | Dear Me, The Sky is Falling | Peter Nemo | |
| 1963 | Bicycle Ride to Nevada | Rip Calabria | |
| 1964 | The Deputy | Captain Slazer | 316 performances |
| 1965 | The Misanthrope | Alceste | |
| 1965 | Uncle Vanya | Astrov | |
| 1965 | End Game | Clov | |
| 1965 | The Critic | Mr. Puff | |
| 1965 | Galileo | Unknown | |
| 1966–67 | Room Service | Gordon Miller | |
| 1967 | The Poker Session | Teddy | |
| 1967–68 | Prometheus Bound | Hermes | |
| 1967–68 | Volpone | Mosca | |
| 1967–68 | The Three Sisters | Solyony | |
| 1968 | We Bombed in New Haven | Sergeant Henderson | 85 performances |
| 1968 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Unknown | |
| 1969 | Cop-Out | Performer | |
| 1970 | Room Service | Gordon Miller | |
| 1970 | Transfers | Performer | |
| 1975 | Love Two | Performer | |
| 1976 | Rich and Famous | Various Roles | |
| 1976 | Julius Caesar | Cassius | |
| 1977 | Richard III | Richard III | |
| 1980–81 | I Ought to Be in Pictures | Herb | 324 performances |
| 1982 | Children of Darkness | Count LaRuse | |
| 1983 | Don Pasquale | Don Pasquale | |
| 1985 | Doubles | Lennie | 277 performances |
| 1986 | Tartuffe | Tartuffe | |
| 1988–90 | Rumors | Lenny Ganz | 535 performances |
| 1993 | Angels in America: Millennium Approaches | Roy Cohn | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play |
| 1994 | Angels in America: Perestroika | Roy Cohn | Nominated – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play |
| 1995 | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock | Nominated – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play |
| 1998 | A Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds | Rabbi Azriel | Nominated – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play |
| 1999–2000 | Adam Baum | Sam Baum | |
| 2001 | A Connecticut Yankee | Launcelot | |
| 2002 | God of Vengeance | Jack Chapman | |