Russian actor Leonid Kanevsky is known for his role as senior Inspector-detective Alexander Tomin from the detective series Sledstvie vedut znatoki (1971). For this role, he was popular in the Soviet Union, reaching a peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Leonid Kanevsky secured the status of an actor of one role, whom Russian TV audience perceived him as an intelligent detective from the TV series Sledstvie vedut znatoki (1971). In 2006, the NTV channel invited Leonid Kanevsky as host to the documentary show Sledstvie veli... (2006) about the most high-profile crimes committed in the USSR. This show Leonid Kanevsky told detailed facts and participated in reconstructions of the crimes of those years, which became his trademark for his entire career.