Leo Gorcey

Acting · 1.0 popularity

Age

109

Movies

Born: June 3, 1917 – June 2, 1969
From: New York City, New York, USA

Biography

Leo Gorcey's parents were actor Bernard Gorcey (born 1888) who stood 4' 10", and Josephine Condon (born 1901), who stood 4' 11" and weighed 95 pounds; they worked in vaudeville in New York. In 1915, 14-year-old Josephine gave birth to Fred. In 1917, Leo was born, a large baby at 12 lb. 3 oz.; as an adult he would be 5' 6". In 1921 his brother David Gorcey was born. In 1935, Leo and David appeared in the stage play "Dead End." In 1937, this was made into a movie, and Leo became one of the busiest actors for the next 20 years -- from 1937-1939 he starred in seven Dead End Kids movies, from 1940-1945 in 21 East Side Kids films, from 1946-1956 in 41 Bowery Boys movies. In 1939, Leo married 17-year-old dancer Kay Marvis, who appeared in four of his movies. They divorced in 1944 after five years of marriage; she went on to marry Groucho Marx. In 1945, Leo married Evalene Bankston; they divorced in 1948. Leo was to have paid her $50,000 in a divorce settlement; however, when two detectives she hired broke into his home, he retaliated by firing his gun at them. They sued, and Leo countersued for illegal entry and won $35,000 back. In 1949, Leo married Amelita Ward, whom he met while filming Smugglers' Cove (1948). Their marriage produced Leo Gorcey Jr. in 1949, and a baby girl they named Jan (after Leo's producer and manager, Jan Grippo) in 1951. They divorced in 1956. That year Leo married his young nanny, Brandy, who was taking care of his two kids. They had a baby girl, Brandy Jo, in 1958. The couple divorced in 1962. Leo went to the altar one last time in February, 1968, marrying Mary Gannon. He stayed married to her until his death from liver failure on June 2, 1969, in Oakland, California.

Works

95 films

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

19637.0

Angels with Dirty Faces

19387.5

Dead End

19377.1

Jail Busters

19556.7

Let's Go Navy!

19518.0

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook

19919.5

Live Wires

19465.6

Hell's Kitchen

19396.8

On Dress Parade

19396.6

They Made Me a Criminal

19396.3

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

Spooks Run Wild

19415.1

The Phynx

19703.5

Invisible Stripes

19396.2

Triple Trouble

19507.0

Born to Sing

19425.4

Ghosts on the Loose

19434.2

In Fast Company

19466.8

Jalopy

19535.3

Crashing Las Vegas

19565.7

Midnight Manhunt

19454.6

Destroyer

19436.8

Out of the Fog

19416.3

Headin' East

193710.0

Bowery to Bagdad

19556.3

Mr. Wise Guy

19426.6

So This Is New York

19486.7

The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters

19545.4

Angels' Alley

19485.2

Gallant Sons

19407.4

Mannequin

19386.0

Crime School

19386.4

Private Detective

19396.8

Come Out Fighting

19457.5

Bowery Blitzkrieg

19416.1

Angels Wash Their Faces

19396.7

Docks of New York

19458.0

That Gang of Mine

19405.8

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge

19426.3

Block Busters

19448.0

Portia on Trial

19375.8

Blonde Dynamite

19506.8

Down in San Diego

19416.7

Jungle Gents

19545.2

Angels with Broken Wings

19415.3

Feudin' Fools

19525.5

Smart Alecks

19425.8

Classic Comedy Teams

19867.0

Loose in London

19535.9

Fighting Fools

19496.0

Flying Wild

19416.1

The Beloved Brat

19386.5

Master Minds

19496.4

Sunday Punch

19426.0

Blues Busters

19506.7

Spook Busters

19465.5

Dig That Uranium

19554.3

News Hounds

19476.8

Bowery Buckaroos

19476.6

Smuggler's Cove

19485.3

Ghost Chasers

19516.8

Hullabaloo

19406.5

Here Come the Marines

19527.3

Clipped Wings

19537.0

Spy Chasers

19558.0

Hold That Line

19527.0

Boys of the City

19405.3

Maisie Gets Her Man

19426.7

Let's Get Tough

19425.3

Lucky Losers

19506.6

Bowery Champs

19447.3

Crazy Over Horses

19516.7

Kid Dynamite

19437.0

No Holds Barred

19525.6

Jinx Money

19485.6

Bowery Bombshell

19466.5

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar

19665.3

Hold That Baby!

19495.8

Trouble Makers

19486.1

Clancy Street Boys

19436.6

Swingtime in the Movies

19386.0

Mr. Hex

19467.3

Mr. Muggs Steps Out

19438.0

Follow the Leader

19443.8

Bowery Battalion

19518.5

Private Eyes

19537.8

Angels in Disguise

19496.0

Hard Boiled Mahoney

19476.8

Mr. Muggs Rides Again

19457.0

Paris Playboys

19545.0

Pride of the Bowery

19406.2

High Society

19555.7

Terror in the Pharaoh's Tomb

2007

Million Dollar Kid

19445.9

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter

20208.0