Jerry Leggio could have left Baton Rouge for Hollywood but opted to stay home and bring Hollywood to Louisiana.

He not only was successful in his mission but built a career in movies, television and on stage while living in his hometown.

Leggio died in his Baton Rouge home on Wednesday at age 90.

"When he was a teenager, he was in the cast of a local variety show called 'Hit and Miss,'" his daughter, Felicia Leggio Braud said. "His castmates were Donna Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley and Rex Reed."

Ashley and Reed eventually left for successful careers in New York. Douglas would make her name in Hollywood. And all tried to encourage Leggio to follow their paths.

"He always was leading man material," said Becky Barcelona Horn, who worked with Leggio productions at Baton Rouge Little Theater,

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