Leonard Jackson (February 7, 1928 - December 22, 2013) played Mr. Handford on Sesame Street during Season 21. Like other Sesame Street cast members, he sometimes played character roles in other skits, such as a grocer in a Wanda the Word Fairy segment.
Following his Sesame Street stint, Jackson played Harry Cupper on the PBS series Shining Time Station from 1989 to 1990 (a show that Gerry Parkes had a recurring role on as Barton Winslow), he later reprised his role in the 1995 Family Special One of the Family. Other TV credits include guest spots on The Cosby Show, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Square One TV (in the "Mathnet" serial "The Case of the Mystery Weekend"), Kojak, and The Jeffersons. Film credits include Five on the Black Hand Side (with Clarice Taylor), Car Wash (with Richard Pryor), The Color Purple, Rage in Harlem (with Gregory Hines), Boomerang (with Eddie Murphy), and Conspiracy Theory (with Mel Gibson).