He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Divorcee and The Great Ziegfeld. Both were also nominated for Best Picture, and the latter won. One of the most odd credits in his filmography is the film noir thriller The Bribe (1949) with its sleazy settings, slippery characters, and steamy atmosphere.
On February 8, 1960, Robert Leonard received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contribution to the motion picture industry, at 6370 Hollywood Blvd.
Robert Leonard died in 1968 in Beverly Hills, California. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, near his wife, Gertrude Olmstead.
