{{Short description|American television writer and producer (1920–1974)}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2017}} {{Use American English|date=June 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Leonard Freeman | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1920|10|31|mf=y}} | birth_place = Sonoma County, California<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893H-Y94T-G?i=1650&cc=1804002&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AK82H-6F8|title=FamilySearch.org|website=FamilySearch |accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|1974|1|20|1920|10|31|mf=y}} | death_place = Palo Alto, California, U.S. | occupation = Television writer, producer, screenwriter | spouse = Joan Taylor (1953) | children = 3, including<br>Lisa Freeman | years_active = 1952–1974 }}
'''Leonard Freeman''' (October 31, 1920 – January 20, 1974) was an American television writer and producer who is best remembered as the creator of the CBS series ''Hawaii Five-O'' in 1968. He appeared in a 1953 episode (#112) of the TV series ''The Lone Ranger''.
''Hawaii Five-O'' ran for twelve seasons, at the time a record for a crime drama. In 1960, he wrote for the series ''Route 66''; in 1962, he produced ''The Untouchables''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=22 January 1974 |title=Hawaii 5-0 producer dies at 53 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/268824683 |access-date=22 May 2025 |work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |pages=C5}}</ref> In 1967, he produced the western film, ''Hang 'Em High.'' A decade earlier, he wrote scripts for the syndicated ''Men of Annapolis''.
Freeman died in 1974<ref name=":0" /> during the sixth season of ''Hawaii Five-O'' of complications related to heart surgery.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_FruSwC9UjwC|title=Booking Hawaii Five-O: An Episode Guide and Critical History of the 1968–1980 Television Detective Series|last=Rhodes|first=Karen|date=February 1, 1997|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-8666-3|language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|293480|Leonard Freeman}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20170530225430/http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/fiveofaq.htm ''Hawaii Five-O'' Home Page FAQs]
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{{Hawaii Five-O}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Leonard}} Category:1920 births Category:1974 deaths Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:American male television writers Category:Television writers from California Category:Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series) Category:People from Sonoma County, California Category:Television producers from California Category:American television show creators