Defiance and daring came naturally to Leonard Alfred Schneider—before, during, and after the war. The man, where he manned deck guns and, over three years, participated in the invasions of Salerno, Sicily, Anzio, and southern France. “When the War was on, the alternation of routine and confusion sustained my interest, but then it was over and I wanted out,” he wrote. He took to feigning homosexuality, which succeeded in getting him discharged in July 1945, and then studied acting under the G. I. Bill. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, his provocative routines earned him a following—including by the law, with a series of obscenity charges. He was just 40 when he died. But his barrier-breaking influence left a lasting mark on comedy.
