Biography

Eddie Leonard played professional baseball before joining minstrel shows (including the Primrose & West Minstrel Show in 1902), served in the Spanish-American War, and then later sang at Tony Pastor's and other variety theatres. On Broadway, he acted in the musical "Roly Boly Eyes" for which he wrote the title song, and he concluded his career in the Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe in 1940. His autobiography is "What A Life". Joining ASCAP in 1937, his popular-song compositions include "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider", "Just Because She Made Them Goo-Goo Eyes, "Oh, Didn't It Rain?", "I'm On My Way", "I Lost My Mandy", "Sweetness", "Don't You Never Tell a Lie", "Mandy Jane", "Sugar Baby", "Beautiful", "Molasses Candy", and "I Wish I Was Some Little Girlie's Beau".
- IMDb mini biography by: Louis Rugani