Leon von Cederholm, professionally known as Leon Holmes, was born on November 26, 1913, in San Francisco, California, to immigrant parents, Alfred Sederhulden and Rose. Alfred, a watchmaker from Russia, was thirty-eight years old at the time of Leon's birth, while Rose, also from Russia, was thirty-three. The Sederhuldens resided on Eddy Street in San Francisco with Rose's mother and two brothers. Leon was the youngest of the family, preceded by three older siblings: Norvin, Robert, and Isabel.
Tragedy struck when Leon was just a few years old, as his father Alfred passed away. Rose, faced with the daunting task of providing for her children, was forced to place them in the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. Meanwhile, she worked as a bakery clerk and continued to live with her mother and a brother on Eddy Street, just a half-mile away from the orphanage.
Leon and his siblings spent several years in the orphanage, but eventually, Rose was able to reunite with them in Los Angeles. The family settled on North Hudson Avenue, approximately two and one-half miles west of the Disney studio on Kingwell Avenue. It was during this time that Leon, along with his siblings, began working on productions for Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney. For his early roles, Leon was paid a modest 50 cents per day.
