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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 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 B ...
and, as adults,
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 195 ...
. Gorcey was famous for his use of malapropisms, such as "I depreciate it!" instead of "I appreciate it!"


Early years

Gorcey was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on June 3, 1917, the son of Josephine (née Condon), an
Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
immigrant, and
Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey (9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was a Russian-born American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski in ...
, a
Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
immigrant. Both were
vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
actors of short stature. Bernard Gorcey was and his wife was . Their son would reach in adulthood.


Film career

In the 1930s, Gorcey's father lived apart from the family while working in theater and film. When he returned in 1935, he and Leo's younger brother
David Gorcey David Gorcey (February 6, 1921 – October 23, 1984) was an American actor and the younger brother of actor Leo Gorcey. Gorcey is best known for portraying "Chuck Anderson" in Monogram Pictures' film series The Bowery Boys, and "Pee Wee" in i ...
persuaded Leo to audition for a small part in the play ''Dead End''. Leo had just lost a job as a plumber's apprentice and wished to emulate his father's modest success. The Gorcey boys were cast in small roles as two members of the East 53rd Place Gang (originally dubbed the "2nd Avenue Boys") in the play ''Dead End'' by
Sidney Kingsley Sidney Kingsley (22 October 1906 – 20 March 1995) was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Men in White'' in 1934. Life and career Kingsley was born Sidney Kirschner in New York. He studied at ...
. Charles Duncan, originally cast as Spit, left the play, and Gorcey, his understudy, was promoted. Gorcey created the stage persona of a quarrelsome guttersnipe whose greatest joy was to make trouble. In 1937,
Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
made the popular play into a film of the same name and transported the six rowdy young men to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
. Gorcey became one of the busiest actors in Hollywood during the following 20 years, starring in seven
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 ...
films between 1937 and 1939, 21
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 B ...
films between 1940 and 1945, and 41 Bowery Boys films between 1946 and 1955. The earlier films presented Gorcey in variations of his ''Dead End'' character Spit, a sneering tough guy meeting anyone's challenge with a wisecracking remark. In the early 1940s, as the dramatic films shifted to roughneck comedy, Gorcey embellished his dialogue with
malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
s, always delivered in a thick
Brooklyn accent The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The New York metropolitan accent is one of the most recognizable accents of the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in radio, ...
. "A clever deduction" would be mangled by Gorcey as "a clever seduction"; "I reiterate" became "I regurgitate"; "optical illusion" came across as "optical delusion"; and "I should see an optometrist" was rendered as "I should see an ichthyologist." A studio press release reported that Gorcey spent 30 minutes a day studying a dictionary: "He has made something of a career for himself as an actor by the use of words no one else has ever heard of, and by the misuse or mispronunciation of others." In 1944, Gorcey took a recurring role on the '' Pabst Blue Ribbon Town'' radio show, starring
Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
. He also had a small role in a 1948 film, the comedy ''
So This Is New York ''So This Is New York'' is a 1948 satirical movie comedy starring acerbic radio and television comedian Henry Morgan and directed by Richard Fleischer. The cynically sophisticated screenplay was written by Carl Foreman and Herbert Baker from the ...
'', starring radio comedians
Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wea ...
and
Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''The New York Times'', 22 December 2 ...
, which was Gorcey's last appearance as a straight character actor. In 1945
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. Ea ...
, producer of the East Side Kids series, flatly refused to meet Gorcey's demand of double his usual salary. Gorcey walked out on Katzman, and Katzman discontinued the series. Gorcey turned to ''Dead End'' teammate Bobby Jordan, who suggested a meeting with Jordan's agent, Jan Grippo. The series became The Bowery Boys, with Gorcey holding a 40% financial share, and Grippo as producer. Gorcey brought aboard his father, Bernard Gorcey, to appear as Louie Dumbrowski, the panicky owner of a sweet shop where the boys gathered. Leo recruited his brother David to play one of the gang members. The series was immediately successful, and Gorcey starred in four Bowery Boys films per year through 1955. That year, his father died as a result of injuries from an automobile accident. Gorcey, devastated, began abusing alcohol and lost a great deal of weight. When he trashed a film set in an intoxicated rage, the studio refused to grant him a pay raise that he had demanded, so he parted ways with the Bowery Boys and was replaced in the last seven films by
Stanley Clements Stanley Clements (born Stanislaw Klimowicz; July 16, 1926 – October 16, 1981) was an American actor and comedian, best known for portraying "Stash" in the East Side Kids film series, and group leader Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in The Bowery ...
. However, Gorcey's brother David remained with the series until it ended in late 1957. During the 1960s, Gorcey did very little acting. He had a bit part in the 1963 comedy ''
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer with a story and screenplay by William Rose and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all-star cast of comedians, is a ...
'' and he appeared with old sidekick
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 ...
in a pair of low-budget films, ''
Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar ''Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar'' is a 1965 American comedy film directed by Victor Duncan, and is notable for the reunion of Bowery Boys' actors Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall, who had last appeared in a film together nine years earlier—in ''Cra ...
'' in 1966 and ''
The Phynx ''The Phynx'' is a 1970 American comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to Albania to locate celebrity hostages taken prisoner by Communists. This ...
'' in 1970. Gorcey also made an appearance in a television commercial for a 1969
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
model.


Autobiography

In 1967 Gorcey self-published an autobiography, ''An Original Dead End Kid Presents: Dead End Yells, Wedding Bells, Cockle Shells, and Dizzy Spells,'' which was limited to 1,000 copies. It was reprinted in 2004.


Personal life

In May 1939, Gorcey married 15-year-old dancer Kay Marvis, who appeared in four of his Monogram movies. They divorced in 1944, and Marvis later wed
Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
. Gorcey married actress Evalene Bankston in October 1945, but they divorced two years later. He was arrested for firing a gun at his wife when she entered his home in
Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...
, California, but was acquitted of the charge in 1948. In February 1949, Gorcey married actress
Amelita Ward Amelita Ward (July 17, 1923 – April 26, 1987) was an American film actress. She played supporting roles in over 20 films between 1943 and 1949, generally in B Pictures such as ''Gangway for Tomorrow'' and '' The Falcon in Danger'' (1943). She w ...
, with whom he had appeared in ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Smugglers' Cove ''Smuggler's Cove'' is a 1948 comedy film starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on October 10, 1948 by Monogram Pictures and is the eleventh film in the series. Plot Young amateur sleuth Terence "Slip" Mahoney works cleaning offices in ...
.'' The marriage produced two children, including Leo Gorcey Jr., but the couple were divorced in February 1956. Later that year, Gorcey married Brandy Davis. They had a daughter, Brandy Gorcey Ziesemer, but divorced in 1962. Gorcey married Mary Gannon on July 12, 1968, his wife until his death.


Death

Gorcey, a lifetime alcoholic, died of liver failure on June 2, 1969, one day short of his 52nd birthday.Leo Gorcey dies; A dead end kid
/ref> He is buried at Molinos Cemetery in
Los Molinos, California Los Molinos (Spanish for "The Mills") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tehama County, California, United States. The population was 2,037 at the 2010 census, up from 1,952 at the 2000 census. History Los Molinos ("the mills" in Spanish) tra ...
.


Legacy

Gorcey's image was to appear on the cover of the Beatles' 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' but because he requested a fee, he was removed. ''Me and the Dead End Kid,'' a book about Gorcey written by his son Leo Jr., was published in 2003. In 2017, a third book on his life appeared, ''Leo Gorcey's Fractured World'' by Jim Manago, which included an examination of Gorcey's use of
malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
s in the Bowery Boys films.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorcey, Leo 1917 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American people of Irish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American male actors Deaths from liver failure 20th-century American Jews