Leonard Whiting
| Leonard Whiting | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Leonard Whiting 30 June 1950 London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1966–1975, 1990-1995, 2015 |
| Spouse(s) | Cathee Dahmen (1971–1977) Lynn Presser (1995–present) |
Leonard Whiting (born 30 June 1950) is an English actor who is best known for his role as Romeo in the 1968 Zeffirelli film version of Romeo and Juliet opposite Olivia Hussey's Juliet, a role which earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor. He was touted as a star in the making, the next Laurence Olivier and the next great British actor.
Whiting was born in the Wood Green area of London, England, the only son of Arthur Leonard Whiting and Peggy Joyce O'Sullivan. He has English, Irish and some Romani/Gypsy ancestry. Whiting attended the St. Richard of Chichester School, Camden Town, leaving just a week or two before beginning work on Romeo and Juliet (1968).
Whiting was spotted by an agent at the Connaught Rooms where he was performing at a Jewish wedding at the age of 12. He only sang one song ("Summertime") which he had rehearsed as a one-off song with the group Teal Lewis and the Fourtunes, who were the entertainment for the evening. This was set up by his father to get him noticed. After hearing him sing, the agent suggested he try out for Lionel Bart's Oliver! which constantly needed replacements for its child performers. Whiting played the Artful Dodger in the long-running London musical for 18 months, and for 13 months appeared at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre in the production of Congreve's Love for Love opposite Olivier, which toured Moscow and Berlin.
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