Leonard Pitt was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1941. He narrowly escaped high school and never went to college. He attended art school in Los Angeles and at age twenty got a well paid job in an advertising agency with a brilliant career before him. He soon realized this was a creative dead end, so he quit and sailed to Europe. In Paris, he thought to take a few mime classes with Etienne Decroux. In a week’s time he was hooked. He spent four years with Decroux and seven years total in Paris.

He returned to the U.S. in 1970 and opened a school of physical theater, attracting students from around the world. Leonard’s one-man shows have received critical acclaim. He has performed and taught at theatres and festivals throughout the United States and Europe.

In 1973 he attended a concert of Balinese dance and music. Turning to his friend before the curtain went up, he whispered, “If this is boring, let’s leave in the middle.” He was stunned by the beauty he had seen and six months later he traveled to Bali to study mask theatre. While there he performed with the Balinese in their village and temple festivals.

In 1986 he co-founded Life On The Water, a contemporary theatre in San Francisco presenting new work.

In 1991, Leonard created Eco-Rap, an environmental education program combining ecology and rap music as a way to educate inner city youth about urgent social issues.

In 2002, Leonard's book Walks Through Lost Paris was published in Paris. It sold out in six weeks and became a best seller. In November, 2006, his second book A Small Moment of Great Illumination came out in bookstores.