Leonard B. Stern

Leonard Bernard Stern (December 23, 1923 – June 7, 2011) was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.

Stern was born in New York City. He studied at New York University. Stern was a successful television writer who wrote for such now classic series such as Get Smart, The Honeymooners, The Phil Silvers Show, The Steve Allen Show and Tonight Starring Steve Allen.

Stern was also a writer for the 1952 Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee version of The Jazz Singer and several Abbott and Costello films, among others. In the 1970s, he produced and directed the TV series McMillan & Wife, which starred Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James.

Stern was the senior vice president of Price Stern Sloan (PSS). In 2000, after Price's death, Stern and another partner, Larry Sloan, launched another publishing company, Tallfellow Press, and acquired the rights to Droodles. Stern co-wrote, with Diane L. Robinson, A Martian Wouldn't Say That (2000), a compilation of actual memos and notes from television executives.

On June 7, 2011, Stern died of heart failure at his home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 87. He was survived by his wife of 55 years, actress Gloria Stroock, as well as a son, daughter, two grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.

Producer

• I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962–1963)
• Supermarket Sweep (1965)
• Get Smart (1965–1968)
• Run, Buddy, Run (1966)
• The Hero (1966–1967)
• He & She (1967–1968)
• The Good Guys (1968–1970)
• The Governor & J.J. (1969–1970)
• McMillan & Wife (1971–1976)
• The Snoop Sisters (1972–1974)
• Faraday & Company (1973)
• Holmes & Yo-Yo (1976–1977)
• Lanigan's Rabbi (1976)
• Rosetti and Ryan (1977)
• Operation Petticoat (1977–1978)
• Partners in Crime (1984)
• Get Smart, Again! (1989)
• Missing Pieces (film) (1992)

Writer

• Africa Screams (1949)
• Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950)
• Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
• The Milkman (1952)
• Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
• Lost in Alaska (1952)
• The Jazz Singer (1952)
• Three for the Show (1955)
• The Steve Allen Show (1956–1960)
• The Honeymooners (1955–1956)
• The Phil Silvers Show (1956)
• The Jackie Gleason Show (1953–1956)

Director

• I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962–1963)
• Run, Buddy, Run (1966)
• He & She (1967)
• The Good Guys (1968)
• The Governor & J.J. (1969)
• McMillan & Wife (1971)
• The Snoop Sisters (1972)
• Holmes & Yo-Yo (1976)
• Lanigan's Rabbi (1977)
• Just You and Me, Kid (1979)
• Partners in Crime (1984)
• Missing Pieces (1992)

• Emmy Award, 1957, Best Comedy Writing-variety Or Situation Comedy (The Phil Silvers Show)
• Emmy Award, 1967, Outstanding Writing Achievement In Comedy (Get Smart)