Robert G. Jordan (April 1, 1923 – September 10, 1965) was an American actor, most notable for being a member of the

Dead End Kids The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play '' Dead End'' in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They prov ...

, the

East Side Kids The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The ...

, and

The Bowery Boys The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from 1946 through 1 ...

Early life and career

Jordan was born in Harrison, New York, At the age of four, he was working in an early movie version of ''A Christmas Carol''. His mother took him to talent shows in and around Harrison, New York. He also modeled for newspaper and magazine advertisements and appeared in short films and radio programs. In the late 1920s, his family moved to the upper west side of Manhattan. In 1929, he was cast as Charles Hildebrand in the 1929 Broadway play '' Street Scene''.

Dead End Kids and East Side Kids

Though he was the youngest, Jordan was the first of the boys who made up the Dead End Kids to work in films with a role in a 1933

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

short. In 1935, he became one of the original Dead End Kids by winning the role of Angel in Sydney Kingsley's Broadway drama ''Dead End'' about life in the slums of the east side of New York City. The play was performed at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

and ran for three years with over 600 performances. He appeared for the first season and the beginning of the second but left in mid-November 1936. He returned in time to join the others in 1937 in Hollywood,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to make the movie version of the play, starring big names such as

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

, Sylvia Sidney, and

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

. Following the making of ''Dead End'', Jordan found himself "released" from his contract at Goldwyn, and subsequently, he appeared at

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

with the rest of the Dead End Kids. After one year, Warners released most of them, but kept

Leo Gorcey Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was ...

and Jordan as solo performers. Jordan appeared (as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom) in Warner's

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To N ...

comedy ''

A Slight Case of Murder ''A Slight Case of Murder'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film is based on the 1935 play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay. The offbeat comedy stars Edward G. Robinson spoofing his own gangster image as Remy Marco. ...

'' (1938) and at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

in ''

Young Tom Edison ''Young Tom Edison'' is a 1940 biographical film about the early life of inventor Thomas Edison directed by Norman Taurog and starring Mickey Rooney. The film was the first of a complementary pair of Edison biopics that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releas ...

'' (1940). In 1940, Jordan appeared in the movie ''

Military Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

'' and accepted an offer from producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

to star in a new tough-kid series titled "The East Side Kids." Leo Gorcey soon joined him, then

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular " Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bowery ...

, and the trio continued to lead the series until 1943 when Jordan entered the United States Army during World War II as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry Division. He subsequently was involved in an elevator accident that forced him to have surgery to remove his right kneecap.

Later career and personal life

When Jordan returned to films in 1945, he found that his former gang-mates Gorcey and Hall were obtaining the lion's share of both the content and the salary for the new '' Bowery Boys'' film series. Dissatisfied with his background status, he left the series after eight entries, and made only a few films thereafter. On July 1, 1957, Jordan played Bob Ford, the assailant of

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

, in the television series '' Tales of Wells Fargo''. One of his later performances was in an episode of ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' titled "The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch", where he played one of Bullet Head Burke's men. In subsequent years, Jordan worked as a bartender, a bad choice for him considering his alcoholism. He worked to support his family as a door-to-door photograph salesman and as a

roughneck Roughneck is a term for a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been ...

for an oil driller. In 1957, Jordan and his wife divorced, they had one son, Robert Jr.

Death

On August 25, 1965, Jordan entered the Veterans Hospital in

Sawtelle, California Sawtelle is a district in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California, partially within the West Los Angeles subregion. It was established in 1899 and named after a manager of the Pacific Land Company who was initially responsible fo ...

, for treatment of cirrhosis of the liver. He died on September 10, 1965 at the age of 42. His former Dead End Kid and East Side Kid co-star

once observed, "Bobby Jordan must not have had a guardian angel."

Filmography

Film (Partial)

* ''

Kid Millions ''Kid Millions'' (1934) is an American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth, produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and starring Eddie Cantor. Its elaborate "Ice Cream Fantasy Finale" production number was filmed in three-strip Technicolor, one ...

'' (1934) as Tourist (uncredited) * ''

Dead End Dead End or dead end may refer to: * Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''. Film and television * ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...

'' (1937) as Angel * ''

'' (1938) as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom * ''

Crime School ''Crime School'' is a 1938 Warner Bros. film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart. Plot A junkman does business with the Dead End Kids: Frankie, Squirt, Spike, Goofy, Fats, and Bugs. When the boys ask for ...

'' (1938) as Lester "Squirt" Smith * ''

Reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...

'' (1938) as Pinky Leonard * ''

My Bill ''My Bill'' is a 1938 drama film starring Kay Francis as a poor widow raising four children. It was based on the play ''Courage'' by Tom Barry. Plot In the late 1930s, Mary Colbrook is the widow of Reginald Colbrook, Sr. She has four children ...

'' (1938) as Reginald Colbrook Jr. * ''

Angels with Dirty Faces ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers. It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft. The screenplay was wri ...

'' (1938) as Swing * ''

They Made Me a Criminal ''They Made Me a Criminal'' is a 1939 American crime drama film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the film '' The Life of Jimmy Dolan'' (1933). The film was later featu ...

'' (1939) as Angel * '' Off the Record'' (1939) as Mickey Fallon * ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

'' (1939) as Joey Richards * ''

The Angels Wash Their Faces ''The Angels Wash Their Faces'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. film directed by Ray Enright and starring Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and the Dead End Kids. Plot Gabe Ryan is released from reform school and is taken to a new house by his sister Joy to s ...

'' (1939) as Bernie Smith * '' Dust Be My Destiny'' (1939) as Jimmy Glenn * ''

On Dress Parade ''The 'Dead End' Kids "On Dress Parade"'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors. Plot A hero of World War I, Colonel William Duncan, is on his deathbed. He s ...

'' (1939) as Cadet Ronny Morgan * ''

'' (1940) as Joe "Joey" Doyle * ''

You're Not So Tough ''You're Not So Tough'' is a 1940 Universal Studios drama film directed by Joe May and starring ''Dead End Kids'' and the '' Little Tough Guys'' and was the first in the series where Billy Halop and Huntz Hall weren't billed in the opening credits ...

'' (1940) as Rap * ''

Boys of the City ''Boys of the City'' (also known as ''The Ghost Creeps'') is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison. Plot ...

'' (1940) as Danny Dolan * ''

'' (1940) as Dick Hill * ''

That Gang of Mine ''That Gang of Mine'' is a 1940 film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan. It is the third film in the ''East Side Kids'' series. Plot Old horseman Ben brings his beloved thoroughbred Bluenight to New York from Ken ...

'' (1940) as Danny Dolan * ''

Give Us Wings ''Give Us Wings'' is a 1940 Universal comedic film starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. Several members of the casts of those series were also featured in "The East Side Kids" films. In the years before World War II, the United ...

'' (1940) as Rap * '' Pride of the Bowery'' (1940) as Danny * ''

Flying Wild ''Flying Wild'' (aka ''The East Side Kids in Flying Wild'' and ''Air Devils'') is a 1941 film directed by William Beaudine under the pseudonym "William West" as the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series which eventually totaled 22 fi ...

'' (1941) as Danny Dolan * ''

Bowery Blitzkrieg ''Bowery Blitzkrieg'' is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series. The film "introduced" Huntz Hall in his first of the East Side Kids film series. It was released in the United Kingdom under the title ''Stand and Deliv ...

'' (1941) as Danny Breslin * ''

Spooks Run Wild ''Spooks Run Wild'' is a 1941 American horror comedy film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series. It stars Bela Lugosi with Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and Huntz Hall. It is directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the se ...

'' (1941) as Danny * ''

Mr. Wise Guy ''Mr. Wise Guy'' is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh. Plot In New York, the East Side youth gang, consisting of: Muggs McGinnis, Danny Collins, Glimpy Stone, Scruno, Skinny, and Peewee are falsely ar ...

'' (1942) as Danny Collins * ''

Let's Get Tough! ''Let's Get Tough!'' is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey (as Muggs), Huntz Hall (as Glimpy), Bobby Jordan (as Danny), and Robert Armstrong (as "Pops" the Cop). Released in early 1942, it was direct ...

'' (1942) as Danny Connors * ''

Smart Alecks ''Smart Alecks'' is a 1942 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids. Plot Hank Salko, a member of the Eastside youth gang in New York, is initiated into the world of adult crime when two gangsters, Mike and Butch Br ...

'' (1942) as Danny Stevens * ''

Neath Brooklyn Bridge ''Neath Brooklyn Bridge'' is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. It is the eleventh installment in the ''East Side Kids'' East Side Kids#Filmography, series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were ...

'' (1942) as Danny Lyons * '' Junior Army'' (1942) as Jockey * '' Kid Dynamite'' (1943) as Danny Lyons * ''

Keep 'Em Slugging ''Keep 'Em Slugging'' is a 1943 American film starring the Little Tough Guys and directed by Christy Cabanne for Universal Pictures. This was the final film in Universal's Little Tough Guys series, and although Universal still billed the group as ...

'' (1943) as Tommy Banning * ''

Clancy Street Boys ''Clancy Street Boys'' is a 1943 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. It is Beaudine's first film with the team; he would direct several more in the series and many in the Bowery Boys canon. Leo Gorcey marrie ...

'' (1943) as Danny * ''

Ghosts on the Loose ''Ghosts on the Loose'' is a 1943 American comedy horror film and the fourteenth film in the East Side Kids series, directed by William Beaudine. The picture co-stars horror film icon Bela Lugosi as well as Ava Gardner in one of her earliest rol ...

'' (1943) as Danny * ''

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

'' (1943) as Sobbing Sailor (uncredited) * ''

Adventures of the Flying Cadets ''Adventures of the Flying Cadets'' is a 13-episode 1943 Universal film serial directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins. Plot Flying students Danny Collins (Johnny Downs), "Jinx" Roberts (Bobby Jordan), "Scrapper" McKay (Ward Wood) and "Zom ...

'' (1943, Serial) as Cadet "Jinx" Roberts * ''

Bowery Champs ''Bowery Champs'' is a 1944 American film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. Plot After she files for divorce from nightclub owner Tom Wilson, former Broadway star Gypsy Carmen demands that he return the securities tha ...

'' (1944) as Bobby Jordan * '' Live Wires'' (1946) as Bobby * '' In Fast Company'' (1946) as Bobby * ''

Bowery Bombshell ''Bowery Bombshell'' is a 1946 film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the third film in the series. Plot Sweet Shop owner Louie needs to raise $300. The Boys try to sell their jalopy to raise the money, but are unable to becaus ...

'' (1946) as Bobby * ''

Spook Busters ''Spook Busters'' is a 1946 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the fourth film in the series of forty eight. Plot All of the boys have just graduated from school where they learned exterminati ...

'' (1946) as Bobby * ''

Mr. Hex ''Mr. Hex'' is a 1946 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the fifth film in the series. Plot The boys are trying to raise money for their friend Gloria. She has to give up her aspiring singin ...

'' (1946) as Bobby * ''

The Beginning or the End ''The Beginning or the End'' is a 1947 American docudrama film about the development of the atomic bomb in World War II, directed by Norman Taurog, starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, and Tom Drake, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. T ...

'' (1947) as Radioman on Tinian Receiving A-Bomb Message (uncredited) * ''

Hard Boiled Mahoney ''Hard Boiled Mahoney'' is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the sixth film in the series. Plot Sach just lost his job as an assistant to a private detective, but he wasn't paid. Slip goes with him down to the dete ...

'' (1947) as Bobby * ''

News Hounds ''News Hounds'' is a 1947 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the seventh film in the series. Plot Slip is a copy boy for a newspaper, but dreams of having his own byline. Sach is an aspiring ...

'' (1947) as Bobby * '' Bowery Buckaroos'' (1947) as Bobby * ''

Treasure of Monte Cristo ''Treasure of Monte Cristo'' is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by William Berke and starring Glenn Langan, Adele Jergens and Steve Brodie. Plot A descendant of Edmond Dantès finds himself framed for a crime he did not commit. ...

'' (1949) as Tony Torecelli * '' The Fat Man'' (1951) as Ted - Bellhop (uncredited) * ''

The Eddie Cantor Story ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' is a 1953 American musical film, musical drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine and Aline MacMahon. It is a biopic based on the life of Eddie Cantor featuring Brasselle as Ca ...

'' (1953) as Customer (uncredited) * '' The Man Is Armed'' (1956) as Thorne

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Bobby 1923 births 1965 deaths American male film actors People from Harrison, New York Deaths from cirrhosis Male actors from Greater Los Angeles 20th-century American male actors Alcohol-related deaths in California United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers

Early life and career

Dead End Kids and East Side Kids

Later career and personal life

Death

Filmography

Film (Partial)

Television

References

Further reading

External links