Leonardo Leoncavallo

February 21, 1936 - April 29, 2023

Leonardo Leoncavallo passed away at home after a long illness with cancer and kidney failure. He was the partner of Karin Miller and father to Melissa Handler, Michael Leoncavallo and Mark Leoncavallo. He was the father-in-law to Dennis Handler, grandpa to Jaylin and Preston Handler, as well as the brother to Sandra Leoncavallo. Leonardo or “Lee” as he was often called, was born in Brighton Beach, New York. He went to UCLA studying theatre arts, the love of which would stay with him his whole life. He joined the army and went to Asia, where he served in the Korean War. During his stay, he got into radio broadcasting, writing children’s stories and narrating them for the army’s radio station in Korea. After the war he went to Japan, where he married Chong “Cece” Ok, who became the mother of his three children. Mark and Michael were born in Japan and Melissa was born in Thailand. The family spent several years in Asia, then moved back to the US, where Lee became a stockbroker. Classical music was always a passion in his life. His family originally came from Italy, where his great, great uncle was a famous composer, Ruggiero Leoncavallo. He wrote the world-famous opera “I Pagliacci”. Lee adored the opera and later in life, after separating from his wife, he met his future partner Karin Miller at a classical music event. Lee loved the art of narration, and he narrated several editions of Books On Tape. Karin and Lee spent 26 happy years together. They loved to travel, going to Europe and Asia multiple times. They also spent many happy hours at the opera and classical concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. Lee also loved learning to fly, and amongst his many talents was being a great cook. Lee was a fighter and bravely faced his illness until the end. He will be greatly missed by those who love him dearly.