Shakespearean stage actor; later a film player for three decades until his death.

His son, future science-fiction writer Fritz Leiber Jr. , appeared with him in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939).In one of his first films, he played Mercutio in a silent version of Romeo and Juliet (1916/II).He played many of the great Shakespeare roles on stage, including "King Lear" and "Hamlet". His only appearance in a Shakespearean role in a talking picture was a brief moment as Horatio in the final scene of what is supposed to be a London stage production of "Hamlet", from the 1937 film "The Great Garrick".His son, SF writer Fritz Leiber Jr, wrote a funny (albeit confessional) story entitled "237 Talking Statues, etc.", inspired by his difficult relationship with his father, in which Francis LeGrand II is confronted by the statues and paintings of the title, all self-portraits of his father in various roles, with which he discusses his relationship with his father.Fritz Leiber, Sr., was the father of famed science fiction author, Fritz Leiber Jr. (who looked very much like his father).