Leonard Stone (1923-2011)

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Character actor Leonard Stone, who played Colonel Bidwell in “The General’s Practitioner,” passed away on Wednesday (November 2nd) at the age of 87. Many obituaries (The New York Times, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times) mention his 1971 role as the father of Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as well as his Tony Award nomination for a 1959 play called Rehead.

Leonard Stone as Colonel Bidwell in The General's Practitioner

Leonard Stone as Colonel Bidwell in “The General’s Practitioner”

In addition to M*A*S*H, Stone made guest appearances on dozens of television shows including Gunsmoke, Mannix, Land of the Giants, Mission: Impossible, Quincy, M.E., Perry Mason and Falcon Crest. He was a regular on Camp Runamuck (read more at Television Obscurities), an NBC sitcom that ran from 1966-1967. According to his Internet Movie Database entry, Stone’s acting career began in 1956 and spanned five decades, with his last credit a 2006 made-for-TV movie called Surrender, Dorothy.

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