Born in Mannheim, Leininger studied acting and stage directing from 1950 to 1952. He was then engaged at the Nationaltheater Mannheim as an actor and Regieassistent. He worked at the from 1956, then at the Theater Freiburg until 1967. From 1967 to 1974, he was Oberspielleiter des Schauspiels, leading the play section of the Städtische Bühnen Essen, with as Intendant. He held the same position at the Nationaltheater Mannheim until 1977. He was appointed Generalintendant of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen on the recommendation of conductorUwe Mund, and held the post until 1986. At the beginning of his tenure, he called the singer Carla Henius to form and direct the musik-theater-werkstatt, which was devoted to the presentation of new operas. Leininger's time at the Musiktheater im Revier was described as an era and as the period of the company's highest artistic accomplishment. He built ensembles at both houses, opera and play, finding young talents who often moved on in their careers. He commissioned young stage directors, such as Järvefeldt,,, Göran Järvefelt and, and set designers such as, and focused on teamwork. He won for a ballet that was also directed at children and young people. Occasionally, notable singers were invited as guests to make performances more attractive, including Grace Bumbry, Helen Donath, Mirella Freni, Johanna Meier, Birgit Nilsson, Katia Ricciarelli, Leonie Rysanek, Theo Adam, Giacomo Aragall, Peter Dvorsky, Manfred Jung, Kurt Moll, Karl Ridderbusch, and Ingvar Wixell. Alluding to the noted Italianopera houseLa Scala, the theater was nicknamed the Ruhr-Scala during Leininger's tenure, reflecting the upgrading of cultural offerings in what was essentially an industrial region along the Ruhr river. When Leininger moved to the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as Generalintendant in 1986, Henius followed and directed an institution for new operas there. He was Generalintendant until 1994.
Television
Draußen vor der Tür by Wolfgang Borchert, with Helmut Rost, Klaus Abramowsky, Jens-Uwe Pape, Wolff Lindner, Rudolf Cornelius, Michael Enk, Rainer Pigulla, Christa Bernhardt, Werner Brunn, Wolfgang Hofmann, Ilse Anton, Eva Garg, Peter Hohberger, among others. Music by. Production: Städtische Bühnen Essen, ZDF.
