Eddie Leonard (October 17, 1870[citation needed] – July 28, 1941), born Lemuel Gordon Toney, was a vaudevillian and a man considered the greatest American minstrel of his day, at a time when minstrel shows were an acceptable and popular mainstream entertainment in the United States.

[2] He performed in vaudeville for 45 years before that medium faded in the 1920s, and was known for such songs as "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" and "Roly Boly Eyes".

At the age of 12, he started his stage career at Putnam's Theatre Comique at East Franklin Street in Richmond.

[6][7] Leonard wanted to be a baseball player, and tried out for John McGraw and played for the Baltimore Orioles as a center fielder briefly.

He became known for a ragtime song style that Leonard called "syncopated syllabication" and a "soft shoe" dance.

His musical comedy Roly-Boly Eyes broke a house record in 1919 at the Knickerbocker Theatre in Manhattan.

[7] At the time of his death, Leonard and his wife lived at King Edward Hotel at 120 West 44th Street in New York City.