Adeline Leonard Seakwood, who served as a production office coordinator on The Defenders, The Patty Duke Show, Trading Places, The Boys in the Band, Matlock and more, has died. She was 102.
Leonard Seakwood died Wednesday at her home in Punta Gorda, Florida, her daughter, publicist Nanette Leonard, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Her credits also included such films as Popi (1969), The Seven-Ups (1973), Death Wish (1973), Godspell (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Superman (1978), Ragtime (1981), Starting Over (1979), Annie (1982), Krush Groove (1985), The Secret of My Success (1987) and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).
She worked alongside actors including E.G. Marshall, Christopher Reeve, Michael J. Fox, Robert Redford, Farrah Fawcett, Peter Falk, Robert Reed and Paul Newman, to name just a few.
When she celebrated her 100th birthday, Redford signed a photo from their time on the set of Three Days of the Condor and sent her warm wishes.
Born on Jan. 27, 1923, in Brooklyn and raised there, Adeline Leonard worked as a model for John Robert Powers before venturing into acting, and she appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959).
As a co-founder of Local 161/IATSE in New York, she led a successful campaign to change the title of production secretary to production office coordinator (the position is now known as production coordinator). She was honored with a lifetime achievement award from her union in 2008.
(Local 161 represents script supervisors, production accountants, payroll accountants and production coordinators).
Leonard Seakwood also taught a class at the New School in New York.
She lived much of her life in New York until she married U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Herbert J. Seakwood in 1980. They moved more than 30 years ago to Punta Gorda, where she would welcome new residents to town for three decades as the “Sunshine Lady” for the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association.
She also volunteered for more than 25 years with the Isles Girls & Guys — a nonprofit organization under the PGICA that organized estate sales — as a greeter.
She was known for her warmth, kindness and signature hugs and for dancing every month at Harpoon Harry’s.
Survivors include her daughters, Nanette and Janine; grandchildren Morgan, Gunner (Corissa) and Ian (Natalie); and great-grandchildren Carsten, Ronen and Troy. Her husband died in 2016 at age 96.
Donations in her memory can be made to the Peace River Wildlife Center or the Animal Welfare League. A celebration of her life will be announced later.