About Ron

“We artists are expressing the culture of our time, and our work could be a record for future civilizations to ponder. Who knows? The still life, the outdoor scene, the activities of the people of today, may be as mysterious or revealing to the people of the 60th century, born genetically controlled in domed habitats, as the pyramids of Egypt or the cave paintings in France are to our generation.” — Ronald Stanley Leonard

Ron Leonard was born in Toronto, Ontario, on August 20, 1923. He was a Canadian entertainer, artist, and entrepreneur. Best known as a talented magician and illusionist, he was also an accomplished painter and art educator. 

He attended Northern Vocational School where he studied under Canadian war artist Frank Leonard Brooks and majored in a four-year art program. Leonard joined the Canadian Armed Forces during World War II and entertained the troops in the European Theatre with a variety show. At 21, he was promoted to Company Sergeant-Major and put in charge of a Canadian Army Show unit, where he served until 1946. He then returned home to marry Pearl “Christina” Saunders, a Canadian acrobatic dancer he’d met overseas.

Ron was a talented magician, hypnotist and comedian. In 1941, he helped found Toronto’s IBM Ring 17, The Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club, where he served as President for many years. He was the featured magician known as Mr. Magic on Uncle Bobby, a children’s show on CFTO that ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He toured a comedic illusionist act called “Funzafizzen Magic a Go-Go” in Toronto, Niagara Falls, and on Las Vegas and Bahamas circuits.

He was National Director of Advertising for Odeon Theatres in the 1950s, and in 1960 he launched tool and equipment rental company Complete Rent-Alls Ltd. that became signage and scenery company Scenery & Display Ltd.. Throughout his career, Ron was a motivational speaker for companies and young entertainers.

In 1970, he sold his companies to focus on his painting. With influences ranging from the impressionists to the contemporary, he dabbled in pencil, ink, watercolour, and oil paintings. He was a prolific outdoor painter in almost any weather. He often painted with friends, including Don Fraser, Mary Schneider, and Guttorn Otto. His landscapes prominently featured forest and water scenes, abandoned buildings in the wilderness, and cluttered junkyards and garages. 

Ron taught painting at Sir Sandford Fleming and Loyalist colleges, and self-published a booklet titled Painting: The Life, The Love, The Challenge. From '70 to '93, his paintings were exhibited regularly in Ontario and Quebec galleries, including the O’Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts). His art is part of many private and corporate collections, including the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Foods, the CN Tower, and the Bermuda Ministry of Tourism.

Ron passed away on Oct. 5, 1998.