Henry Leff helped found the broadcasting program at City College of San Francisco in the 1940s and served as its head for nearly four decades. Many Bay Area broadcasters would credit Leff with playing a role in their education.
Leff was born in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn College before receiving his masters degree in theater from Cornell University. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, organizing appearances by celebrities to entertain the troops.
Leff played Lt. Mallard on the NBC radio series Candy Matson, Yukon 2-8209 in the late 1940s and early ’50s and had frequent roles on TV and in movies, including a memorable improv scene wearing Groucho Marx disguise in Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run.
Leff was a founding officer of KQED.
Henry Leff died in 2007 at age 88.