Sean penn biography wikipedia the free

American director (1921–1998)

Not to be confused with Leo Genn.

Leo Zalman Penn (August 27, 1921 – September 5, 1998) was an American television director and actor. He was the father of musician Michael Penn and actors Sean and Chris Penn.

Early life

Penn was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant mother, Elizabeth (née Melincoff; 1890–1961) and Maurice Daniel Penn (né Pinon; 1897–1981), who was of Lithuanian-Jewish descent.^[1][2][3] Leo Penn served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II as a B-24 Liberator bombardier with the 755th Bomb Squadron, 458th Bomb Group, stationed in England as part of the Eighth Air Force.^[4]

Career

A life member of The Actors Studio,^[5] Penn won the Theatre World Award in 1954 for his performance in the play The Girl on the Via Flaminia.

He acted in numerous roles in the early years of television. In 1956, he was cas