Leo (That 70's Show)
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| "Leo Chingkwake" | |
|---|---|
| That '70s Show character | |
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| First appearance | Sleepover |
| Last appearance | That '70s Finale |
| Cause/reason | Series ended. |
| Created by | Mark Brazill |
| Portrayed by | Tommy Chong |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | The Hippie, Dirty Old Hippie, Mr.Hippie, Hophead |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 57-60 |
| Date of birth | c. 1919 |
| Occupation | Record store employee, Foto Hut owner (out of business) |
| Family | Theo (cousin) Eli (cousin) Larry (cousin) Unnamed son Unnamed wife |
Leonard Chingkwake (born c. 1919) is a character on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. Played by Tommy Chong, an iconic actor associated with the stoner culture of the 1970s, he was most commonly referred to as Leo. The character is an aging hippie and the owner of a Foto Hut at which Steven Hyde worked. Leo himself does not have a strong work ethic, often putting play before work and maintaining an easy-going attitude in all things, business included. He once promoted Hyde to his boss.
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[edit] Appearances
Leo is introduced in the episode "Sleepover." In his first scene in the show he interviews Hyde for a job at the Foto Hut. Leo asks, "You like photos man?" and, Hyde says yes, and Leo gives him the job. He doesn't interview anyone else because no one else showed up.
Sometimes, he would join a "circle" with Hyde and the rest of the gang. Most notably, he joined a circle when the guys were talking about religion.
[edit] Absence and Return
Leo was written out of the series, due to Tommy Chong serving a jail sentence. However, Leo is absent for the majority of season 5 with no explanation. During his long absence, he is not mentioned until the episode "The Battle of Evermore" when Hyde gets worried about Leo because he hasn't seen him in a long time. Searching for Leo, Hyde recruits Kelso, Fez and Jackie and they look all over Point Place to find him. They go by the Foto Hut and it's closed down with everything gone. They go to Leo's apartment but Leo's cousin Eli gives Hyde a letter from Leo that says: "Dear Hyde, man. One day I stopped in Point Place for some gas, before I knew it eight years had passed. Whoa, that rhymes. Anyway, I should get home to my wife. Take care, you're a good kid, man. You're a good kid, man".
As a farewell gift, Leo left Hyde and the rest of the gang, a large supply of weed.
Leo returns to the show in the episode "Down The Road Apiece" after nearly a three season absence. Leo is reintroduced when he finds Eric on a road trip. Shortly after their meeting, Hyde has Leo manage the record store owned by Hyde's father. When Hyde returns, a bunch of hippies are sitting around smoking pot, and when Hyde tries to enter his office, he discovers an orgy is taking place(to which Leo immediately jumps in to join). Hyde takes over when Leo fails at the job.
After Ashton Kutcher (Kelso) failed to renew his contract for the 8th season, the show was without a resident "idiot" character, so Leo began to take on a more major role in that capacity.
[edit] Personality
Leo is a very confused individual, possibly because he got stoned too many times. Ironically, Leo is strongly opposed to alcohol consumption saying, "that stuff will mess with your mind, man," and that beer is "evil". In the episode "Who Wants It More?" he finds Hyde, Fez and Kelso looking for UFOs. Hyde asks Leo what he is doing. Leo responds with, "Wow, that's a really good question man!" and does not know the answer. In the same episode, Leo says that he once saw a UFO at a football game that told him to have a good year (actually the Goodyear blimp). A further indicator of Leo's confusion is when he says, "He's making us look bad in front of the boss!" at the Foto Hut, forgetting that he is the boss. In one episode, he also reveals that he thinks he met God on the bus, who told him the meaning of life and gave him a pretzel. Leo forgot the meaning of life, but says it was a pretty good pretzel.
Leo has a bad memory. When he and Hyde are reunited, he talks with him for awhile before proclaiming "Wait a minute. You're Hyde man!" Leo later revealed he does not remember that he owned a Foto Hut, though he does remember what the building looked like and its location. It is revealed in the episode "Stone Cold Crazy" that drugs can refresh Leo's memory.
Leo also revealed to Hyde while playing The Game of Life that he had kids who "split on me man;" it's notable as the only time Leo reflects on something in his past as being painful, including fighting in a war. Hyde is touched by this, letting Leo know his parents also abandoned him, Leo cements their bond by asking, "so you wanna be my father, man?", which Hyde agrees to. Leo also mentions having a son when he gives Hyde an El Camino, stating that he intended to give the car to his son on his 16th birthday, but his wife left with his kids. He calls Hyde the son he never had (as opposed to the son he does have).
In the eighth season episode, "You're My Best Friend", Leo reveals that he believes it's 1963, having in his possession a ticket to the '64 World's Fair ("One more year. I can't wait.")
Leo sometimes dislikes Kelso because Kelso's dim-witted; however, Leo is just as stupid as Kelso. When the gang tried to go to Canada to get beer, Leo notices that Kelso is coming and he remarks "Don't tell me crapshoes is coming!" referring to a past prank gone awry.
[edit] Veteran status
In the episode "Long Away," Leo reveals that he is a war veteran who drove a supply truck in World War II and at one point saved several soldiers from attack. This earns him a modicum of grudging respect from Red. In that same episode, Leo said that he got a medal. Not remembering what it's called, he said that "it looked like a purple heart." Also in this episode it is implied that Leo discovered marijuana after WWII when he hitched a ride with Jazz musicians. Curiously, he also mentions spending much of the Vietnam War in Canada, even though his status as a WWII veteran would make him legally exempt from the draft, in addition to being much too old for the draft at the time. However, this could be attributed to Leo's bad memory or confusion, or maybe he just happened to be in Canada. His veteran status was hinted at because Leo was often seen wearing dog tags. In the episode "Eric and Kitty's Night Out" Leo, while playing a game of Battleship, suspects that he might have been in the Navy.
[edit] Family
Leo has a cousin named Theo, (played by Richard Karn) who is a contractor, as well as a cousin Eli (played by Bobcat Goldthwait) and a cousin Larry. Leo also has made reference to a "big brother" that likes to interfere with his business (when Leo told Hyde this, Hyde thought Leo was referring to the government, but then Leo said he literally meant his big brother). Leo also has a dog (Dr. Zhivago) that Leo once accidentally fed illegal drugs instead of dog food ("Ice Shack"). Leo has mentioned he was married and his wife left him with their kids. When selling the car to Kelso, he says he was going to give the car to his son on his sixteenth birthday. He also called Hyde the son he never had in the same episode. Leo was married The Battle Of Evermore, he stopped in Point Place, and stayed, but she was never mentioned by name.
[edit] Work ethic
Leo once told Hyde and Fez that he used to steal money from the cash register when his boss wasn't watching. When Hyde reminds him, that Leo is his own boss, Leo is happy about this because he knows that he is never watching the register.
In one episode, Hyde and Leo are playing The Game of Life at the Foto Hut when a customer requires attention. Leo tells Hyde that if he helps the customer, he will (ironically) be fired. In another episode, Leo temporarily hires Fez, but then fires him when he displays a stronger work ethic than either Leo or Hyde. Leo proclaimed "that dude's making all of us look bad. I'm afraid the boss is gonna fire me." To which Hyde responded "Once again, Leo you are the boss."
Another episode where he forgot he was the boss was when Kelso visited Hyde at the Foto Hut and he caught Hyde getting high and Kelso asked would he get in trouble if the boss caught him, and Leo, who was participating with Hyde, panics and says "Oh no!, is this the boss here?!...Oh wait I'm the boss, man".
[edit] Age and birthday
Though Leo's age is not specifically mentioned in any episode, since he fought in World War II, he must have turned eighteen by 1945, which means he was probably born before 1927, though underaged combatants are not unheard of (Red himself was underage when he enlisted). One episode mentions Leo's Zodiac sign is (predictably) Leo, which would make his birthday between July 23 and August 22. Another episode mentions Leo's Zodiac sign as Aquarius. But information about his Zodiac sign (both times) comes from Leo himself, which means that it may not be reliable. Leo might be around 55-60 since the show takes place in the '70s and World War II was in 1939-1945, so that means he had to be born in the late 1910s or early 1920s.
[edit] References
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