Leo Finnie

Leo Finnie is a thirty year veteran in the entertainment industry. As a Drama Desk and Obie Award winning actor, Leo regards the theater as his deepest passion. He has originated and played roles in dozens of plays in the most prestigious theaters across the country from the Mark Taper Theater in LA, the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Yale Rep, the 2nd Stage and Circle Rep Theaters in New York, as well as the Royal National Theater of London to name a few. He spent four years working with the late-great playwright August Wilson during the development of the highly award winning play JITNEY. He is an alumnus of Northwestern University, and holds a MFA Degree from Brooklyn College where he taught Dramatic Structure and Acting as an Adjunct Professor. Leo’s interest in screenwriting began during an internship in the development department of the Multi-Emmy Award Winning PBS Series AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE. As a screenwriter, in the form of a six-hour miniseries and a dramatic episodic TV series entitled BREEDS, Leo has chosen to focus on the incredible untold stories of the fabulous Black Jockeys of the 1800’s who won multiple Kentucky Derbies. His feature film screenplay, JOCKO, tells the story of Oliver Lewis the former slave who won the First Kentucky Derby and saved the South. The completion of his novel about Oliver Lewis and the birth of the Kentucky Derby is slated for 2017.

BIO

AEA, SAG-AFTRA

*OBIE and Drama Desk Award Winner

TELEVISION/FILM

LAW & ORDER

LAW & ORDER "Possession"

LAW & ORDER-SVU

LAW & ORDER-SVU "Folly"

LAW & ORDER-CI "Sound Bodies"

ALL MY CHILDREN

SUPERBOY

E.R.

THIRD WATCH "Man Enough"

NY UNDERCOVER

ALL MY CHILDREN

ED "2 Days of Freedom"

AS THE WORLD TURNS

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

COSBY SHOW

13 CONVERSATIONS...

VIBES

Co-Star

Recurring

Guest Star

Co-Star

theatrE

Pops

John Prentice, Sr.

Philmore

Sgt. Waters

Ernesto

City Man

Mr. Medium

Before Columbus

Foos

Stephano

Fry

Lyons

Teach

BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

JITNEY (August Wilson) *

JITNEY

A SOLDIER'S PLAY

BALM IN GILEAD

LUX IN TENEBRIES

OUT AT SEA

THE DEATH OF THE LAST BLACK MAN

DISTANT FIRES

THE TEMPEST

THE VENUES DE MILO IS ARMED

FENCES

AMERICAN BUFFALO

BROOKLYN COLLEGE, CUNY, MFA in Acting

BROOKLYN COLLEGE, Theatre Dept. Adj. Prof. ’84-‘85

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, B.A. in Theatre

ACCENTS: Standard, Southern, West Indies

ABC-TV

VIACOM

NBC-TV

SONY PICTURES

COLUMBIA PICTURES

GABLE STAGE

THE REPERTORY THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS

2ND STAGE THEATRE

MARK TAPER, LA

GOODMAN THEATRE

US/LONDON TOUR

ARKANSAS REPERTORY THEATRE

CIRCLE REPERTORY THEATRE

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE

HARTFORD STAGE

UBU REPERTORY THEATRE

ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

ASOLO THEATRE

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE

ST. LOUIS CITY PLAYERS

screenwriting

JOCKO

by

Leo Finnie

(Feature Film)

Logline: From slavery to victory, in a time when crossing the finish line meant life or death, the untold story of Oliver Lewis the slave boy who won the first Kentucky Derby.

For

Synopsis and Screenplay

Contact:

Adam Sanders, Esq.

ROSENBERG & ESTIS, P.C.

asanders@rosenbergestis.com

(212) 555-1275

BREEDS

by

Leo Finnie and Keli Lyn Carter

(Dramatic T.V. Series)

Logline: Desperate to win a landmark law suit against Kentucky’s infamous racist tobacco baron over 5000 acres, a struggling young black single mom attorney becomes an unwilling time-traveler as her slave ancestors summon her back to the 1800s to guide her to the clues of how the land was stolen from them; a victory will make her the richest woman in Kentucky, and save her daughter’s life.

For