Ferdinand Leon facts for kids
Ferdinand Leon Jr. was an African-American writer. He was born on January 29, 1922, and passed away on September 7, 1988. He is best known for writing for popular television shows in the 1960s and 1970s.
About Ferdinand Leon Jr.
Early Life and Education
Ferdinand Leon Jr. was born in January 1922. His hometown was New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Ferdinand Leon Sr. and Ida Leon. He grew up with his four sisters. During his younger years, he lived in both New Orleans and Los Angeles, California.
Ferdinand Leon Jr. took special writing classes. These classes were for African-American writers. His teachers were Earl Barret and Bob Goodwin. He was seen as a very talented student. Because of his skills, he was hired as a freelance writer. This means he worked on different projects for different companies.
Writing for Television
Ferdinand Leon Jr. wrote for many television shows. He worked during the 1960s and 1970s. He created storylines, screenplays, and teleplays. These are all types of scripts for TV shows.
One of his most famous jobs was writing for the TV show Julia. This show was very important because it was one of the first to star an African-American woman. Ferdinand Leon Jr. was one of several African-American writers for Julia. Other writers included Robert Goodwin, Harry Dolan, and Gene Boland.
He wrote eight episodes for Julia. These episodes were created between 1968 and 1970. One of them was a teleplay, which is a script written for television. Some of the episodes he wrote include:
- "Gone with the Whim" (1970)
- "The Prisoner of Brenda" (1970)
- "Love is a Many Slighted Thing" (1969)
- "I Thought I Saw a Two Timer" (1969)
- "Sticks and Stones Can Break My Pizza" (1969)
- "The One and Only, Genuine, Original, Family Uncle" (1968)
- "Designers Don't Always Have Designs" (1968)
The producer of Julia, Hal Kanter, wrote about Ferdinand Leon Jr. in his autobiography. He said that Leon was a great writer.
Ferdinand Leon Jr. also wrote for two other TV shows. In 1970, he wrote one episode for Love, American Style. The episode was called "Love and the Safely Married Man/Love and the Uncoupled Coupled Couple/Love and the Many Married Couple". In 1971, he wrote an episode for The Partners. This episode was titled "How Many Carats in a Grapefruit".
Other Writings
Besides TV shows, Ferdinand Leon Jr. also wrote for a journal. He contributed to Modern Drama in 1968. His piece was called "Time, Fantasy, and Reality in Night of the Iguana". It was a review of a screenplay by Tennessee Williams called The Night of the Iguana.
Ferdinand Leon Jr. passed away in New Orleans in September 1988. He was 66 years old.
