Leon was born in Kokomo, Indiana on May 23, 1963, and grew up on several different farms in the area. Moving frequently led Leon to develop a fantasy life at an early age, and he acted in high-school and community-theatre productions throughout Indiana.
He attended Indiana University at Kokomo. He landed his first paying show-biz gig during this time - an amateur-night appearance at The Club Showbar in Indianapolis led to a six-month nightclub act. A couple years shy of legal drinking age, Leon hid out in the dressing room between sets.
Leon moved to San Francisco in the late 1980s, studying his craft in earnest with Jean Shelton's Actors Lab, Cliff Osmond, Mark Monroe Studios, and Inner-life Acting Workshop. He appeared in several black-box theatre productions, and was cast in several features, such as "Housebound," "Metalman," "Orange Field" and "Roommates & Cafe" (a.k.a. "Coffee Mates"), and short films, including Christos Dimas' "Breath," which won "Best Short" honors at festivals around the globe, and "about dominance and submission," which won the Robert Bell Outstanding Achievement Award from SF State University.
His first break was playing "Devon" in "Some Prefer Cake," the comedy feature which was distributed theatrically in Great Britain, screened at over 25 film festivals worldwide, and is available on DVD from Wolfe Video.
Leon wrote, produced and starred in his one-man show "Last Sunday in June" at Theatre Rhinoceros. He also originated the lead role of "Chris" in Lou Reda's comedy smash "Happy Anniversary," which enjoyed an extended three-month run at Theatre Rhino before moving to Off-Broadway.
Leon continued to play a variety of roles in both film and theatre while in the Bay Area. He starred in the award-winning film thriller "Foucault WHO?," the feature "Birds of Lightning," the horror thriller feature "Final Remains" (a.k.a. "Mortuary"), and the shorts "The Currycomb" and "A Quiet Place."
On stage, he won raves and delighted audiences in 2002 with his portrayal of British raconteur Quentin Crisp in Jeffrey Hartgraves' hit comedy "Carved in Stone" at Eureka Theatre (which Leon also co-produced).
He enjoyed a long, successful association with New Conservatory Theatre Center, starring as "Brad" in the West Coast premiere of Jonathan Tollins' "The Last Sunday in June;" as the title character in "Message to Michael," as the Narrator in "Dream Boy," based on the novel by Jim Grimsley, and as half of the star-crossed couple of "Thief River." He played the villain in the comedy smash "Worse than Chocolate" at Theatre Rhinoceros, and worked with stage notables John Fisher & Ronnie Larsen in "A Few Gay Men."
In 2004, Leon moved to Los Angeles. That year, he made his LA stage debut as the down-and-out yet over-the-top poet "Harlequin" in "The Scheme of Things." The following year, he was invited to join Company of Angels Theatre, Los Angeles' longest-running repertory theatre, and made his debut in the Company's collection of short plays "Fresh Meat" in the one-act "Victims."
He continues to perform in independent and short films, as well as many USC student shorts, most recently starring as "Morton" in Arvin Bautista's thesis film "Deer Season" which screened in USC's 2007 "First Look" festival.
In 2006, he portrayed bumbling ex-boyfriend "Simon" in the world premiere of Rose Martula's stage comedy "Salsa Saved the Girls" at the Eclectic Co. Theatre.
In 2009 he co-produced and recreated his role of Quentin Crisp in an LA production of "Carved in Stone" that ran over 12 weeks and garnered rave reviews.
In 2011, Leon began the web TV series 'Old Dogs & New Tricks,' an ensemble comedy which he also created, wrote and co-executive produced. The series completed its first season and is in preproduction on Season 2.
In 2012, Leon was named #3 on web-series journal Placevine's "Top 10 Emerging Web Series Stars of 2012" for his web series 'Old Dogs & New Tricks'
In 2001, he shot the feature thriller "Mortuary" while simultaneously appearing in the world premiere of Ronnie Larsen's stage play "A Few Gay Men," driving back and forth from the film's set in Marin County to Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco. He describes this period as "one of the happiest times of my life.".
He moved to Los Angeles in 2004
His surname is pronounced with a "long A" like the word "acorn" - not like the word "accord."
In 2005, he was invited to become a member of Company of Angels Theatre, Los Angeles' longest-running repertory theatre company.
He made his professional show business debut at age 19 with a nightclub act in Indianapolis, Indiana, which he performed for six months. Being under drinking age, he was forbidden to actually enter the bar, and hid out in the dressing room between sets.
In 2007, he joined the Celebration Theatre company in Hollywood.
There was debate between Some Prefer Cake director Heidi Arnesen, writer Jeannie Kahaney & Acord regarding how "gay" to play "Devon." They saw the character as more flamboyant, which he resisted. They compromised by allowing him to play lighter opposite the two female leads, but more grounded in scenes with Devon's boyfriend, played by DeVone Minters.
In the final scene, in which Devon describes seducing the man who stole his boyfriend, Acord insisted on adding the line "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" so his character would not be perceived as overly promiscuous.
In 2009, Leon Acord became a Resident Member of Edgemar Center of The Arts' Theatre Group in Santa Monica.
Co-owns with partner Laurence Whiting the production company Larilee Productions, which have produced the plays Carved in Stone, Last Sunday in June, the benefit The Butterfly Effect: An All-Star Gala for the Jeffrey Hartgraves Cancer Fund, and the short films OUT and Proverbial Cup O' Coffee. They'll next produce the comedy web series Old Dogs & New Tricks, starring Acord and Jim J. Bullock, in 2011.
Acord took over two years off from film work to focus on producing and performing in the 2010 Los Angeles production of Jeffrey Hartgraves' stage comedy "Carved in Stone.".