Lester Burton Podewell was born on November 3, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the son of Edwin L. Podewell (1881-1964) and Anna B. Birkgit (1881-1961). He met actress Beverly Ruth Younger (1915-1999) in the Eugene O'Neill play, The Straw, in which they both had roles. They married later that year in 1937. He was a Chicago actor who starred with everyone from Chuck Norris in Equinox (1985) to Stockard Channing in Meet the Applegates (1990) to John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991). His last movie role was that of the homeless elderly gentleman befriended by Bill Murray in the film Groundhog Day (1993). He performed work in radio episodes of Sky King, The Shadow and Little Orphan Annie. In 1985, Mr. Podewell got rave reviews for his performance in David Mamet's adaptation of Anton Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. He suffered a stroke and died at home on November 22, 1998 in Evanston, Illinois, USA.