Leo Leyden:Leo Leyden, who has died aged 78, began his professional acting career on the Dublin stage 60 years ago. Although never a star, he was an accomplished journeyman actor who was always in demand, appearing in many West End and Broadway productions as well as in films and television series.
On stage, he worked with actors such as Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert and Richard Gere, and appeared in plays directed by Joe Dowling, Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Sir Peter Hall.
Born in Dublin in 1929, he was the son of Leo Leyden, a chemist, and Adelaide Cox. He grew up in Leeson Street and was educated at the Catholic University School.
Leyden trained at the Abbey school of acting and then joined the Gate company. He launched his professional career in 1947 in a production of The Dybbuk at the Gaiety Theatre.
He remained with the company for 10 years, performing both at home and abroad. A particularly memorable tour took him to Egypt.
Leyden became one of the pioneers of Irish radio drama when, in 1947, with Deirdre O'Meara, Pegg Monahan and Frank O'Dwyer, he was among those appointed to the newly-established Raidió Éireann Players.
In the late 1950s he emigrated to Canada and, based in Ontario, began working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
His first Broadway appearance, in Love and Libel, was in 1959 at the Martin Beck Theatre. Returning in 1969, he appeared, with Patrick Bedford and Godfrey Quigley, in Brian Friel's The Mundy Scheme, directed by Donal Donnelly.
In 1973 he played Uncle Peter in The Plough and the Stars; the cast included Pauline Flanagan and Jack MacGowran, with the up-and-coming Christopher Walken as Jack Clitheroe.
Later Broadway productions included The Merchant of Venice (1990) with Dustin Hoffman, and The Government Inspector (1994). Also in 1994, he appeared in Philadelphia, Here I Come! with Milo O'Shea.
Ten years later, the curtain came down on his Broadway career following his appearance in King Lear, starring Christopher Plummer.
He regularly toured the US and Canada, appearing in a variety of productions, including As You Like It (1957-1958), Enemy of the People (1962-1963) and The Pirates of Penzance (1981-1982).
In 1986 Leyden created the role of Sir Jasper Tring in the Broadway production of the musical Me and My Girl. He also toured in a rock music adaptation of Hamlet, playing Polonius. He was associated with both the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, Ontario.
Leyden made his London stage debut in Tom Jones at the Leatherhead Theatre in 1965.
Television work in Britain included an early episode of The Saint, starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar. He also appeared in episodes of Dixon of Dock Green and No Hiding Place.
His work for American television included one-off plays as well as appearances in Street Legal and, most recently, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Having made his film debut in 1952 in The Gentle Gunman, Leyden subsequently appeared in The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), with Robert Shaw in the title role. Other films included A Quiet Day in Belfast (1974) and Reversal of Fortune (1990).
Leyden moved from Ontario to New York in the early 1980s. He is survived by his former wife and companion Colette Leyden, daughter Vanessa, sister Phyllis O'Neill and extended family.
Leo Leyden: born January 28th, 1929; died August 7th, 2007