Anton Leader

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Anton "Tony" Leader | image = Anton Morris Leader, American television director of the mid-20th century.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1913|12|23}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1988|7|1|1913|12|23}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | birth_name = Anton Morris Leader | spouse = Rosalind Palca | children = 2, including Zachary }}

'''Anton Leader''' (December 23, 1913 – July 1, 1988) was an American radio and television director. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 23, 1913. He directed radio dramas in New York in the 1940s and moved to Los Angeles in 1948. Subsequently, he worked as a free-lancer for Universal Studios and Columbia Pictures, among others.<ref name="Times">{{cite news |last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl |date=July 4, 1988 |title=Anton Leader, 74; TV, Film Director, Producer |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-04-mn-3870-story.html | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref> From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, he directed many episodes of the popular television series of that era.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f22f2c4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023319/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f22f2c4| url-status=dead| archive-date=January 25, 2022|publisher=British Film Institute| title=Anton Leader| access-date= September 30, 2020}}</ref> Known as "Tony" to friends and colleagues, his screen credits alternated between "Tony Leader" and the more formal "Anton M. Leader." He died in Los Angeles, California, on July 1, 1988.<ref name="Times" />

==Family== Leader was the son of Max Leader (1887–?) and Nettie Leader (née Winecor, 1897–1955).<ref>{{cite news |title=Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-nettie-winecor-leader/197441215/ |work=The Boston Globe |date=December 8, 1955 |location=Boston, MA |page=39 |access-date=May 13, 2026 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> Leader was married to his wife, Rosalind {{nee|Palca}}, for 43 years. He was father to a son, Zachary and a daughter, Zoe.<ref name="Times" /><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/16/archives/sidor-palca-83-leader-i-in-the-diamond-industryi.html | title = Isidor Palca, 83, Leader in the Diamond Industry | date = February 16, 1972 | newspaper = The New York Times | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201027231353/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/16/archives/sidor-palca-83-leader-i-in-the-diamond-industryi.html | archive-date = October 27, 2020 | url-status = live | quote = Mr. Palca, who retired 10 years ago, leaves his wife, the former Eva Lipka; a son, Alfred, a screen writer and producer; a daughter, Mrs Rosalind Leader of Los Angeles; two brothers, Jack of Montreal, and Arthur of New York, and four grandchildren.}}</ref>

==Years in radio== Leader directed multiple episodes of popular dramatic radio series of the 1940s, including ''Suspense'', ''Murder at Midnight'', ''Words at War'', and others.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Suspense: Old Time Radio Thrills & Chills |url=https://rusc.com/suspense-radio's-premier-anthology-of-thrills-and-chills |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251220142116/https://rusc.com/suspense-radio's-premier-anthology-of-thrills-and-chills |archive-date=2025-12-20 |access-date=2025-12-20 |work=RUSC |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Filmography, television and film director == {{unreferenced section|date=October 2020}} {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! # Episodes |- |1954|| ''The Web'' || 1 |- |1955|| ''The Man Behind the Badge'' || 2 |- |1955|| ''Medic'' || 1 |- |1955|| ''TV Reader's Digest'' || 1 |- |1955|| ''Damon Runyon Theater'' || 5 |- |1955–56|| ''Celebrity Playhouse'' || 8 |- |1956|| ''The Millionaire'' || 1 |- |1956|| ''Four Star Playhouse'' || 2 |- |1956|| ''Playhouse 90'' || 1 |- |1956–57|| ''Cavalcade of America'' || 3 |- |1955–57|| ''The Ford Television Theater'' || 14 |- |1957|| ''The Web'' || 1 |- |1957|| ''The Adventures of McGraw'' || 1 |- |1957|| ''The O. Henry Playhouse'' || 1 |- |1957–58|| ''The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' || 14 |- |1958|| ''Perry Mason'' || 3 |- |1958|| ''Lawman'' || 1 |- |1959|| ''Zane Grey Theater'' || 1 |- |1959|| ''Schlitz Playhouse'' || 1 |- |1959|| ''Sugarfoot'' || 1 |- |1959|| ''Mr. Lucky '' || 1 |- |1959|| ''Bold Venture'' || 5 |- |1958–60|| ''Sea Hunt'' || 4 |- |1960|| ''National Velvet'' || 2 |- |1960–61|| ''The Brothers Brannagan'' || 5 |- |1960–61|| ''The Twilight Zone'' || 2 |- |1961–62|| ''Leave It to Beaver'' || 2 |- |1962|| ''Father of the Bride'' || 1 |- |1962–63|| ''Zero One'' || 5 |- |1964|| ''Children of the Damned'' || Film |- |1964|| ''Espionage'' || 1 |- |1961–65|| ''Rawhide'' || 4 |- |1965|| ''Lost in Space'' || 2 |- |1965|| ''Laredo'' || 1 |- |1966|| ''The Legend of Jesse James'' || 1 |- |1966|| ''Daniel Boone'' || 1 |- |1965–66|| ''Gilligan's Island'' || 6 |- |1966|| ''It's About Time'' || 1 |- |1966|| ''I Spy'' || 1 |- |1966–67|| ''Tarzan'' || 3 |- |1967|| ''Mr. Terrific'' || 1 |- |1967|| ''The Road West'' || 1 |- |1967|| ''Iron Horse'' || 2 |- |1968|| ''Star Trek'' || 1 |- |1969|| ''It Takes a Thief'' || 1 |- |1969|| ''The Survivors'' || 1 |- |1967–69|| ''Ironside'' || 8 |- |1970|| ''Get Smart'' || 2 |- |1965–70|| ''The Virginian'' || 14 |- |1970|| ''Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County'' || Film |- |1970–71|| ''Hawaii 5-O'' || 3 |- |1972|| ''Nichols'' || 1 |- |1976|| ''Movin' On'' || 1 |}

==Filmography, producer == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Notes |- |1953|| ''It Happens Every Thursday'' || Film |- |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Memory Alpha|Tony Leader}} *{{IMDb name|0494903}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leader, Anton}} Category:1913 births Category:1988 deaths Category:American television directors Category:American radio directors Category:Film directors from Massachusetts Category:Television people from Boston {{US-film-bio-stub}}