This article will answer every question you have about Leonard Whiting. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Whiting do for a living?
- Who are Whiting’s parents and siblings?
- What are Whiting’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Whiting married or does he have a girlfriend/ boyfriend?
- Does Whiting have any children?
- Where is Whiting now?
- How tall is Whiting?
- How much money does Whiting earn?
- What is Whiting’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Leonard Whiting?
Leonard Whiting is a well-known retired British actor and singer widely recognized for his role as Romeo in the 1968 Zeffirelli movie version of Romeo and Juliet. The role earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year-Actor.
Leonard Whiting Career
He had some success as a child singer, almost winning a Butlin’s Talent Contest (he came second) hosted in the holiday camp’s packed-out Gaiety Theatre. Whiting was then spotted by a theatrical agent at the Connaught Rooms Holborn, where he was performing at a Jewish wedding at the age of 12. He just sang one song (”Summertime”) which he had rehearsed as a one-off song with the group Teal Lewis and the Fortunes, who provided the evening entertainment. Following hearing Whiting sing, the agent suggested he try out for Lionel Bart’s Oliver! which constantly needed replacements for its child performers. He played the Artful Dodger in the long-running London musical for 15 months, and for 13 months in 1965-1966 appeared at Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre in the production of William Congreve’s Love for Love alongside Olivier, which toured Berlin and Moscow.
1970-1995
Director Franco Zeffirelli described his discovery, from 3000 youngsters who auditioned over a period of more than 3 months. In the mid-1970s, Whiting’s voice caught the attention of Abbey Road and The Dark Side of the Moon engineer Alan Parsons, who was in the process of recording what was to be the first album by the Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. He performed lead vocals on the song ”The Raven” and he also narrated the introduction of the five-part musical rendition of The Fall of the House of Usher on the original 1976 album, which was then replaced by Orson Welles on the 1987 remixed version.
Whiting was then cast as the Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London’s Westminster Theatre between November 27, 1978, and January 17, 1979. It was a Ken Hill production with the Pharaoh played by Whiting in the style of Elvis Presley. In 1990, he provided the voice of the Urpney scientist Urpgor in the children’s animated television series The Dreamstone. Following voicing the character for 3 seasons, he was replaced by Colin Marsh for the 4th and final season. Whiting reunited with Olivia Hussey for the movie Social Suicide (2015), their first work together in 46 years since Romeo and Juliet in 2014.
How old is Leonard Whiting?
Leonard Whiting is currently aged 72 years as of 2022, having been born on June 30, 1950, in London, England. He shares his birthday with celebrities including Mike Tyson, Cheryl Ann Tweedy, TinaKitten, Michael Phelps, Cody Rhodes, Cole Swindell, Monica Potter, Katherine Ryan, and many more.
Leonard Whiting Family
Who are Leonard Whiting’s parents?
Leonard Whiting was born in Wood Green, London, England to his parents, Peggy Joyce (O’Sullivan) and Arthur Leonard Whiting. They then moved to Holloway, another area of North London, England. His parents are English, Irish, and have some Romani ancestry.
Does Leonard Whiting have siblings?
Whiting was born to a family of three children as the only son. He has two siblings, sisters Linda Whiting and Anne Whiting.
Leonard Whiting Education
Whiting attended St. Joseph R.C. Highgate, where he and his sister Linda acted in the school’s nativity plays. He then continue to study at St. Richard of Chichester School, Camden Town, where he left just a week or two prior to starting to work on Romeo and Juliet (1968).
Leonard Whiting Spouse
Whiting was married to model Cathee Dahmen in 1971, before divorcing in 1977, and had one child together. He then got into a relationship with Valerie Tobin in 1977 and gave birth to one child. Whiting later married his assistant, Lynn Presser in 1995, and lived together in Steele’s Village in Haverstock, north London.
Leonard Whiting Kids
Whiting has two children from his two previous relationships. He has a daughter Sara Beth Whiting born in 1972 with Dahmen and later died in 2014 from cervical cancer. Whiting has another daughter named Charlotte Westenra with Tobin, who took her step-father’s surname Westenra who married her mother in 1982. She then became a theatre director.
Leonard Whiting Height
Whiting has a well-built, muscular, and physically fit body with a height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and a weight of 75 kg (165 lbs).
Leonard Whiting Net Worth
British retired actor and singer Whiting was active from 1966 to 1975, from 1990 to 1995, and then in 2015 in his career. He has been able to gather an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2022.