Richard Lerner Obituary
He was not on the list.
May 30, 1931 - January 20, 2014 Diki Lerner, a true character, not only in his film, dance & television career, but also in his everyday life, he truly danced to the beat of his own drum! He was not a man with a list of impressive academic accomplishments, but rather a man of many words who had an uncanny sense of relating to the human experience of others, be it friend or stranger. Drawing upon his witty sense of humor, he created what he called myrunisms; poetic-play-on-word sayings about life. For example, "you do what you do when you know what you should do, you don't do what you don't know, when you don't know what you should do." He prided himself on saving a dollar for a rainy day and preferred canned sardines to French caviar. Considered it a splurge to eat out without a coupon and loved to reminisce about the "golden era" of Hollywood under his lemon tree in the back yard. Richard Daniel Lerner, aka Diki Lerner; an actor, dancer, who worked on Hollywood films such as "Singing in the Rain", "Lil'Abner" and "Irma La Douce", passed away peacefully Monday, January 20, 2014 surrounded by loved one's in the comfort and care of his home in Los Feliz, CA., he was 82. Mr. Lerner was born in Chicago, Illinois May 30, 1931. It was here, at the age of 9 that Diki began his studies in dance with Bernice Holmes of Chicago. He then moved to the West Coast with his Family as a young teen where he continued his career appearing in dance concerts and television productions such as "Aladdin", "Peter Pan" and "Hansel and Gretel", while finishing high school at John Marshall in Los Feliz, CA and continuing his studies with the theatre group "The Players Ring". He made his first professional bow when he was 18 years of age in the Civic Light Opera production of "The Chocolate Soldier." He then performed at the Hollywood Bowl in "Die Fledermaus" and "Pursuit of the Butterfly," his work and studies took him to Paris, France, where he danced with David Lichine in "Ballet de la Ville". Upon his return to the United States, he soon discovered he was "too short" to continue his career in ballet dance, therefore utilizing his height to his advantage, he began to color the stars with dance and performing character roles in film and television. Gene Kelly first discovered him as a dancer in the film "An American In Paris" and brought him into motion pictures where Lerner soon expressed big talent and landed the solo; "Gotta Dance!" with Gene Kelly in 1952, "Singing in the Rain". Mr. Lerner also appeared with French-born actress and dancer, Leslie Caron in MGM's 1953 feature film, "Lili", where he portrayed the lively puppet "Carrot Top." In addition to dancing, Diki expanded his career into film with character roles such as "Lonesome Polecat" in the 1959 Paramount Picture "Lil Abner" and "JoJo" the one armed man in the 1963 Billy Wilder film, "Irma La Douce". Mr. Lerner continued to color stars throughout his career such as Elvis Presley in "Easy Come, Easy Go", George Montgomery in "Guerillas in Pink Lace", and even co-starring with Barbara Eden in a Las Vegas show. Diki enjoyed being the center of attention when performing. He was amused and delighted when he was asked to be the opening act at Frank Sinatra's club Cal Neva. Furthering his career with mime techniques and characters roles in which he created, Diki continued to work for many years in the Entertainment Industry. He wrote, produced and directed the film "The Little World of Mr. Myrun" narrated by Roddy McDowell and starring actors such as Billie Hayes whom he had worked with earlier in "Lil Abner". Richard Diki Lerner will be remembered by many for his numerous and colorful character roles in film, dance and television. In short, Diki put it best when he stated: "when I die, please don't cry-just pretend I've booked a job in Paris, France where I'm indefinitely working on my dance!" Shine on our lovely, delicate, Dancing Star Diki!
Actor
Alex Cord and Delia Sheppard in Roots of Evil (1992)
Roots of Evil
3.9
Movie Director
1992
Crossing the Line (1990)
Crossing the Line
5.0
Zing
1990
Tawny Fere' Ellis, Richard Lynch, and James Ryan in Return to Justice (1990)
Return to Justice
4.6
Dr. Moreno (as R.D. Ell)
1990
Li'l Abner in the Dogpatch Today
6.0
TV Movie
Lonesome Polecat
1978
Linda Lovelace for President (1975)
Linda Lovelace for President
4.2
Director (as Richard [Diki] Lerner)
1975
Pursuit (1972)
Pursuit
5.8
TV Movie
Nerve Gas Victim
1972
Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, and Dick York in Bewitched (1964)
Bewitched
7.6
TV Series
Make-up Man
1969
1 episode
Shirley MacLaine and John McMartin in Sweet Charity (1969)
Sweet Charity
6.9
Man with Dog on Bridge (uncredited)
1969
Clint Eastwood in Coogan's Bluff (1968)
Coogan's Bluff
6.4
Gay Boy at Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel (uncredited)
1968
Elvis Presley, Dodie Marshall, and Pat Priest in Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)
Easy Come, Easy Go
5.2
Zoltan
1967
The Swinger (1966)
The Swinger
5.2
Svengali
1966
Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in I Spy (1965)
I Spy
7.2
TV Series
Baltor
1966
1 episode
Leslie Nielsen, Martin Balsam, Red Buttons, Angela Lansbury, Carroll Baker, Mike Connors, Peter Lawford, and Raf Vallone in Harlow (1965)
Harlow
5.6
Window Designer (uncredited)
1965
Buddy Ebsen, Max Baer Jr., Donna Douglas, and Irene Ryan in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962)
The Beverly Hillbillies
7.3
TV Series
Wiggy
1965
2 episodes
Guerillas in Pink Lace (1964)
Guerillas in Pink Lace
3.5
Japanese Private First Class
1964
Julie Gregg, George Montgomery, Liza Moreno, and Torin Thatcher in Hell of Borneo (1964)
Hell of Borneo
4.3
Ahmed
1964
Irma la Douce (1963)
Irma la Douce
7.3
Jojo
1963
Thriller (1960)
Thriller
8.2
TV Series
Little Jamie
Hans the Dummy
1961–1962
2 episodes
Ann-Margret, Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, and Pamela Tiffin in State Fair (1962)
State Fair
5.9
Comic Dancer (uncredited)
1962
Maureen Bailey, Sondra Lee, Kent Fletcher, Edmund Gaynes, Luke Halpin, Benedict Herrman, David Komoroff, Mary Martin, Jacqueline Mayro, Cyril Ritchard, Norman Shelly, Bill Snowden, Joey Trent, and Carson Woods in Peter Pan (1960)
Peter Pan
7.4
TV Movie
Indian
1960
Li'l Abner (1959)
Li'l Abner
6.7
Lonesome Polecat
1959
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956)
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
8.0
TV Series
Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
1959
1 episode
Hansel and Gretel (1958)
Hansel and Gretel
7.6
TV Movie
Dreamland Elf
1958
Invitation to the Dance (1956)
Invitation to the Dance
6.4
Thief in 'Sinbad the Sailor' (uncredited)
1956
Producers' Showcase (1954)
Producers' Showcase
7.1
TV Series
Indian (as Dick Lerner)
1955–1956
2 episodes
Paris Precinct (1955)
Paris Precinct
7.3
TV Series
(as Dick Lerner)
1955
1 episode
Dan Duryea, Mike Connors, and Frances Gifford in Sky Commando (1953)
Sky Commando
5.5
Jorgy (as Dick Lerner)
1953
Hans Conried, Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, and Tommy Rettig in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
6.7
Dancer in Dungeon Ballet (uncredited)
1953
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Leslie Caron, and Mel Ferrer in Lili (1953)
Lili
7.2
Specialty Dancer - Carrot Top (uncredited)
1953
Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Singin' in the Rain
8.3
Male Tango Dancer (uncredited)
1952
Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in An American in Paris (1951)
An American in Paris
7.1
Ballet Dancer (uncredited)
1951
Production Manager
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita in The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956)
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show
8.4
TV Series
production manager (as Dick Lerner)
1957
5 episodes
Personal details
Alternative names
R.D. Ell
Born
May 30, 1931Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died
January 20, 2014Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
Publicity listings
1 Magazine Cover Photo
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