Herbert B. Leonard, a producer of television shows, including the acclaimed “Route 66,” died at the age of 84 on Saturday.
Here’s an obituary from the Los Angeles Times. (No story from the Associated Press yet; the Times must have had a scoop.) The Times had this to say about Leonard and his “Route 66” connection:
Leonard’s most memorable series is “Route 66,” which ran on CBS from 1960 to 1964.
The show starred Martin Milner as the Yale-educated Tod Stiles and George Maharis as streetwise Buz Murdock: two young men meandering across America in an iconic Corvette. (Maharis was replaced by Glenn Corbett as Linc Case in the final season.)
Like “Naked City,” “Route 66” was shot on location — in about 40 states — and frequently featured the writing of co-creator Stirling Silliphant.
[…] Leonard told The Times in 1993: “The stories were about something. They had a theme. They had a point. They had a human spirit. The guys were really testing their values against the people they met on the road.”
Here is an overview of Leonard’s career at the IMDB.com site.
Karen Funk Blocher also has done considerable research and interviews with the principals of “Route 66.” You can read these posts on her blog. The “In Fairness to George” entries are particularly illuminating.
Leonard is gone, Corbett died in 1993, and Milner is reportedly in poor health. Maharis, last I heard, was in relatively good shape. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating: Maharis left “Route 66” under less-than-good terms, but I think it would be fine gesture to invite him to the Route 66 Festival and talk about the show and its legacy. If nothing else, it might serve as a balm to some of Maharis’ lingering bitter memories.
UPDATE: The Associated Press ran an obituary about Leonard on Friday night.
So did UPI.
The New York Times has one, too (free registration required).
I’m Bert Leonard’s niece and trying to find his daughters.
Jenny leonard was his Ex Wife she is a nurse in beverly hills Ca