Lesser was born in The Bronx in 1922. His father, a grocer, was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Lesser received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York in 1942 at the age of 19. Lesser enlisted in the United States Army the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. Lesser worked for years in film, TV and on stage. His résumé included projects with Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand, Lee Marvin, Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. Lesser appeared on American television steadily since 1955 on scores of TV classics such as The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Get Smart, Family Affair, The Monkees, Quincy, M.E., The Rockford Files, The Amazing Spider-Man, Mad About You, Seinfeld, All in the Family, Boy Meets World, Smart Guy, My Favorite Martian, The Munsters, and, most recently, Castle. He appeared in a variety of films such as Birdman of Alcatraz, Kelly’s Heroes, Blood and Lace, Papillon, Truck Stop Women, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Moonshine County Express. He had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as “Garvin”, a friend of Frank Barone, who always lifted his arms in excitement whenever he saw Ray (as Lesser did in Seinfeld as “Uncle Leo” whenever he saw his nephew, Jerry). He was most recently on stage in Jeff Seymour’s critically acclaimed stage production of Cold Storage at the University of Toronto’s George Ignatieff Theatre. On February 16, 2011, Lesser died of cancer-related pneumonia in Burbank, California, at the age of 88.