Leon Acord

Leon was born in Kokomo, Indiana on May 23, 1963, and grew up on several different farms in the area. Moving frequently led Leon to develop a fantasy life at an early age, and he acted in high-school and community-theatre productions throughout Indiana. He attended Indiana University at Kokomo. He landed his first paying show-biz gig during this time - an amateur-night appearance at The Club Showbar in Indianapolis led to a six-month nightclub act. A couple years shy of legal drinking age, Leon hid out in the dressing room between sets. Leon moved to San Francisco in the late 1980s, studying his craft in earnest with Jean Shelton's Actors Lab, Cliff Osmond, Mark Monroe Studios, and Inner-life Acting Workshop. He appeared in several black-box theatre productions, and was cast in several features, such as "Housebound," "Metalman," "Orange Field" and "Roommates & Cafe" (a.k.a. "Coffee Mates"), and short films, including Christos Dimas' "Breath," which won "Best Short" honors at festivals around the globe, and "about dominance and submission," which won the Robert Bell Outstanding Achievement Award from SF State University. His first break was playing "Devon" in "Some Prefer Cake," the comedy feature which was distributed theatrically in Great Britain, screened at over 25 film festivals worldwide, and is available on DVD from Wolfe Video. Leon wrote, produced and starred in his one-man show "Last Sunday in June" at Theatre Rhinoceros. He also originated the lead role of "Chris" in Lou Reda's comedy smash "Happy Anniversary," which enjoyed an extended three-month run at Theatre Rhino before moving to Off-Broadway. Leon continued to play a variety of roles in both film and theatre while in the Bay Area. He starred in the award-winning film thriller "Foucault WHO?," the feature "Birds of Lightning," the horror thriller feature "Final Remains" (a.k.a. "Mortuary"), and the shorts "The Currycomb" and "A Quiet Place." On stage, he won raves and delighted audiences in 2002 with his portrayal of British raconteur Quentin Crisp in Jeffrey Hartgraves' hit comedy "Carved in Stone" at Eureka Theatre (which Leon also co-produced). He enjoyed a long, successful association with New Conservatory Theatre Center, starring as "Brad" in the West Coast premiere of Jonathan Tollins' "The Last Sunday in June;" as the title character in "Message to Michael," as the Narrator in "Dream Boy," based on the novel by Jim Grimsley, and as half of the star-crossed couple of "Thief River." He played the villain in the comedy smash "Worse than Chocolate" at Theatre Rhinoceros, and worked with stage notables John Fisher & Ronnie Larsen in "A Few Gay Men." In 2004, Leon moved to Los Angeles. That year, he made his LA stage debut as the down-and-out yet over-the-top poet "Harlequin" in "The Scheme of Things." The following year, he was invited to join Company of Angels Theatre, Los Angeles' longest-running repertory theatre, and made his debut in the Company's collection of short plays "Fresh Meat" in the one-act "Victims." He continues to perform in independent and short films, as well as many USC student shorts, most recently starring as "Morton" in Arvin Bautista's thesis film "Deer Season" which screened in USC's 2007 "First Look" festival. In 2006, he portrayed bumbling ex-boyfriend "Simon" in the world premiere of Rose Martula's stage comedy "Salsa Saved the Girls" at the Eclectic Co. Theatre. In 2009 he co-produced and recreated his role of Quentin Crisp in an LA production of "Carved in Stone" that ran over 12 weeks and garnered rave reviews. In 2011, Leon began the web TV series 'Old Dogs & New Tricks,' an ensemble comedy which he also created, wrote and co-executive produced. The series completed its first season and is in preproduction on Season 2. In 2012, Leon was named #3 on web-series journal Placevine's "Top 10 Emerging Web Series Stars of 2012" for his web series 'Old Dogs & New Tricks'