Leon Lontoc

{{short description|Filipino-American film and television actor}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Leon Lontoc

|birth_date = {{birth date|1908|02|20}}

|birth_place = Manila, Philippines

|death_date = {{death date and age|1974|01|22|1908|02|20}}

|death_place = Los Angeles, California

|occupation = Film and television actor

|years_active = 1943–1974

}}

Leon Lontoc (February 20, 1908 – January 22, 1974) was a Filipino-American film and television actor.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/377736013/|title=Actor Chauffeur, Waiter and Barber|work=The Baltimore Sun|location=Baltimore, Maryland|date=October 25, 1964|access-date=January 14, 2022|page=198|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He was known for playing the role of Henry in the American detective fiction television series Burke's Law.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttg5DwAAQBAJ|title=Agnes Moorehead on Radio, Stage and Television|page=107|first=Axel|last=Nissen|publisher=McFarland|date=October 12, 2017|isbn=9781476630359|via=Google Books}}

Life and career

Lontoc was born in Manila,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xqUYAQAAIAAJ|title=The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers: A Necrology of Actors and Actresses|page=335|first1=Billy|last1=Doyle|first2=Anthony|last2=Slide|publisher=Scarecrow Press|date=1999|isbn=9780810835474|via=Google Books}} the brother of doctor Rudolfo M. Lontok.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/275304220/|title=Sacred Heart Radiologist Fullfilled Mother's Wish|work=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, Pennsylvania|date=May 5, 1960|access-date=January 14, 2022|page=44|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He emigrated to the United States in 1927, settling in Hollywood, California. Lontoc began his screen career in 1943 with the uncredited role of a Japanese guard in the film Behind the Rising Sun.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehkcZFT8fMoC|title=The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 Through 1999|page=29|first=Paul|last=Mavis|publisher=McFarland|date=June 8, 2015|isbn=9781476604275|via=Google Books}}

Later in his career, Lontoc guest-starred in television programs, Ironside, McHale's Navy, Hawaiian Eye, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, Jungle Jim, Here Comes the Brides and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also co-starred and appeared in films, such as, One Spy Too Many, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki, Singin' in the Rain, The Damned Don't Cry, The Ugly American,{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/51581/The-Ugly-American/overview|title=The Ugly American (1963)|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311105037/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/51581/The-Ugly-American/overview|archive-date=March 11, 2016|url-status=live|via=Wayback Machine}} God Is My Co-Pilot, Cargo to Capetown, On the Isle of Samoa, The Left Hand of God, The Revolt of Mamie Stover, The Hunters, Operation Petticoat, The Spiral Road, Panic in the City and The Gallant Hours.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20086560/leon-lontoc-tampa-bay-times-obit/|title=Leon Lontoc, Restaurateur, Actor|work=Tampa Bay Times|location=St. Petersburg, Florida|date=January 24, 1974|access-date=January 14, 2022|page=33|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} His last credit was from the sitcom television series The Brady Bunch.

In 1963, Lontoc was cast to play the role of Henry, the Filipino chauffeur of the lead character Amos Burke in the ABC detective fiction television series Burke's Law. He also founded and worked at the restaurant Don the Beachcomber.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/561435015/|title=Filipino Actor Has Three Jobs|work=Sunday News|location=Lancaster, Pennsylvania|date=October 18, 1964|access-date=January 14, 2022|page=32|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}