Leonard Fenton

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Leonard Fenton
Fenton playing Dr. Legg in EastEnders (1985).
Born	29 April 1926 London, England
Notable roles	Dr. Harold Legg in EastEnders

Leonard Fenton (born 29 April 1926 in London, England) is a British actor, best known for his role as Dr. Harold Legg in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. The character appeared from the show's inception in 1985 until 1997, returning for brief stints in 2000 and 2004. The character was originally one of the main focal points of the programme in its early years, but over time he became less central. One reason for his limited appearances is that Fenton suffers from diabetes and a condition, sometimes called apoplexy, which causes muscles to go alarmingly limp for a brief period.^[1] After the character's retirement in 1997, Fenton's appearances in EastEnders have been fewer and further between, often connected with other well-established characters like Pauline Fowler, Ethel Skinner and Dot Branning. He last made a cameo appearance for the funeral of Mark Fowler in 2004.

Fenton's real family name is Feinstein.^[2] He was born and raised in the East End of London to Jewish parents. His parents were also England born, but his ancestral roots lie in Eastern Europe; Riga and Lithuania.^[2]

Fenton originally trained to be a civil engineer at King's College London and during World War II he was conscripted as an army engineer. He worked in this profession for five years after leaving the army, but eventually decided on a career change and won a scholarship to drama school.^[2]

One of his earliest acting breaks came when he was offered a role by Orson Welles in his play Chimes At Midnight. His career in acting spans over fifty years and he continues to act occasionally on television and on stage and has performed numerous radio plays including The Hobbit for BBC Radio. Notable acting credits include: Up The Creek (1958); Studio Four (1962); Colditz (1974); Secret Army (1977); Z-Cars (1978); Play for Today (1981); Shine on Harvey Moon (1982), where he played the Austrian Jew, Erich Gottlieb; Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1984); Rumpole of the Bailey; So You Think You've Got Troubles (1991); Love Hurts (1993) and The Bill (1985; 2001; 2005) among others.

Amongst Fenton's other recent broadcasting work has been the BBC webcast of the Doctor Who story Death Comes to Time.

On 17th February 2006 he appeared on the Channel 4 entertainment show, The Friday Night Project.

Fenton also appears in the British horror movie The Zombie Diaries (2007).

Fenton is married to a cellist named Madeline Thorner and is a father of four. Aside from acting he is also a professional painter and has held several exhibitions.^[2] His cousin's wife is the novelist and poet Elaine Feinstein.