Fleer left his hometown of Quincy, Illinois, to attend Northwestern University in 1934 with no plans to be a professional entertainer.

[2] Fleer then studied at the Max Reinhardt school and acted in summer stock in the eastern United States.

He gained a commission in anti-aircraft artillery, and he served three months in Japan after V-J Day.

[3] Fleer was cast six times from 1957 to 1960 on the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

In "The Camel Train" (1957), he played Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who commissions an experiment of using camels in the southwestern desert country headed by Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale, played by Stanley Lachman.