Leo Penn (August 27, 1921 – September 5, 1998) was an American actor and director.

Penn was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1921. Penn's parents were Russian and Lithuanian Jews of apparent Spanish extraction (the name was originally Piñon, allegedly altered by officials at Ellis Island). ^* He was married to actress Eileen Ryan, and the father of singer Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and the late Chris Penn.

He began his career with some stage work, then headed out to Hollywood, where he attended a pro-union meeting in which support for the Hollywood Ten was voiced. He soon found himself placed on the same blacklist. Unable to work in film, Penn returned to Broadway, where Actors' Equity had refused to go along with the ban. In 1954, he won the Theatre World Award for his performance in the play The Girl on the Via Flaminia. Later, Penn would find work as a television director for shows such as St. Elsewhere, Kojak and Trapper John, M.D.. In 1973, he won an Emmy Award for an episode of Columbo.

He died of lung cancer at the age of 77 on September 5, 1998 in Los Angeles, California.

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1921 births | 1998 deaths | American actors | American television directors | Cancer deaths | Hollywood blacklist | Jewish American film directors | Little House on the Prairie actors | People from Massachusetts

Leo Penn | Leo Penn | Leo Penn