Personal Info
Birth date
1917-06-03 (108 Years)
Day of death
1969-06-02
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
New York City, New York, USA
Also known as
Leo Bernard Gorcey
Leo Gorcey
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.
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
7.4
Overview:
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
6.971
Overview:
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.Ghosts on the Loose
4.2
Overview:
The East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by mysterious men.They Made Me a Criminal
6.1
Overview:
A boxer flees, believing he has committed a murder while he was drunk.Million Dollar Kid
5.8
Overview:
In ridding the area of muggers, the East Side Boys acquire a wealthy benefactor whose privileged son, unbeknownst to him, has fallen in with thugs.Angels with Dirty Faces
7.527
Overview:
Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.Dead End
6.981
Overview:
Mobster "Baby Face" Martin returns home to visit the New York neighborhood where he grew up, dropping in on his mother, who rejects him because of his gangster lifestyle, and his old girlfriend, Francey, now a syphilitic prostitute. Martin also crosses paths with Dave, a childhood friend struggling to make it as an architect, and the Dead End Kids, a gang of young boys roaming the streets of the city's East Side slums.Out of the Fog
6.4
Overview:
A Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
6.5
Overview:
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.Destroyer
6.6
Overview:
Flagwaving story of a new American destroyer, the JOHN PAUL JONES, from the day her keel is laid, to what was very nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve Boleslavski, a shipyard welder that helped build her, who reenlists, with his old rank of Chief bosuns mate. After failing her sea trials, she is assigned to the mail run, until caught up in a disparate battle with a Japanese sub. After getting torpedoed, and on the verge of sinking, the Captain, and crew hatch a plan to try and save the ship, and destroy the sub.Spooks Run Wild
4.848
Overview:
A group of delinquents on their way to summer camp get stuck in a haunted house.The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters
5.2
Overview:
Slip, Sach and the rest of the Bowery Boys enter a haunted house, where they engage in slapstick with a gorilla, a robot and a vampireDracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
10
Overview:
A history of the famous vampire of books and movies, using film clips, previews and other methods.The Phynx
3.5
Overview:
A rock band is invented by the government as a cover to find hostages in a remote castle in Albania held by communist enemies of the USA.Bowery Blitzkrieg
5.75
Overview:
The East Side Kids discover that one of their own, Danny, is torn between staying in school and becoming a boxer, and is getting mixed up with gangsters.Kid Dynamite
6.6
Overview:
The East Side boxing champion Muggs answers a challenge to a fight against the West Side champ but just before the match he is kidnapped. His friend Danny Lyons takes his place and wins the fight, only to have Mugs believe that Danny was responsible for his kidnapping.Dig That Uranium
2.7
Overview:
The boys buy a uranium mine out west, but when they get there they find that it's pretty much worthless. However, the local badmen are distrustful of these new strangers, and when they mistakenly get the impression that the mine is loaded with uranium, they hatch a scheme to get rid of the boys and take over the mine.Mannequin
5.9
Overview:
Jessie, a young working class woman, seeks to improve her life by marrying her boyfriend, only to find out that he is no better than what she left behind.Jinx Money
4.7
Overview:
A man wins $50,000 in a card game with gamblers, but is soon found dead and the money missing. Slip and Sach find the money near where the body was discovered, and soon find themselves the target of both the police and the gamblers.High Society
5
Overview:
Sach receives news that he is the heir to the Terwilliger Debussy Jones fortune. Accompanied by his pal Slip, he arrives at the Jones mansion to review the legal papers needed for him to claim his new fortune. However, Sach and Slip discover that the rightful heir, the young Terwilliger III, is being cheated out of his inheritance by the miscreant duo of Stuyvesant Jones and Clarissa. Sach and Slip, with the help of their fellow Bowery Boys, save the day and restore the heir’s inheritance.Hullabaloo
4
Overview:
A radio actor faces trouble when a science-fiction story causes the audience to panic.News Hounds
6.3
Overview:
Slip and Sach are working for a local newspaper as a reporter and photographer, respectively. Slip wants to get the goods on a local gambling ring that is fixing sporting events, so he and Sach go undercover to expose the ring.Smuggler's Cove
4.7
Overview:
Slip and Sach are working as cleaners in a high rise building. They enter an office to clean it when a messenger hears them use Slip's given name, Terrance Mahoney. The messenger has a letter for "Terrance Mahonoey, Esq." and mistakenly delivers it to Slip. The letter informs Slip that he has inherited a mansion in Long Island. The boys then make their way to the mansion and find that it is inhabited by diamond smugglers. The real owner of the house shows up and helps save the day and defeat the smugglers and gives the boys the house as a reward.Private Detective
6
Overview:
A female private eye joins forces with a police detective to investigate the suspicious murder of a millionaire.Smart Alecks
5.375
Overview:
Danny helps to capture a wanted criminal and receives a $200 reward. However, he has a falling out with the gang when they believe he should share the money with them. Complications ensue when the crook that Danny helped capture escapes from jail and comes looking for him.Bowery Bombshell
6
Overview:
Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall), Bobby (Bobby Jordan), Whitey (William Benedict) and Chuck (David Gorcey) unsuccessfully try to sell a dilapidated car to a street cleaner for a fabulous amount, so they can get enough money to save Louie's (Bernard Gorcey) Malt Shop. Sidewalk photographer Cathy Smith (Teala Loring) snaps a pictures of three bank robbers as they are fleeing a robbery but when the Bowery Boys and Cathy realize that Sach is also in the photograph, they break into the photo lab to destroy the negative, which might make the police think Sach was involved in the robbery.Master Minds
5.8
Overview:
When Sach eats too much sugar, he goes into a trance whereby he's able to predict the future. Slip tries to make some money off of Sach by using him as a fortune teller in a carnival, until a mad scientist kidnaps Sach to use him in an intelligence-switching experiment with a monster.Acting
2020The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter as (archive footage)
2007Terror in the Pharaoh's Tomb as Muggs McGinnis (archive footage)
1991Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Muggs (archive footage)
1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1970The Phynx as Leo Gorcey
1966Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar as Leo
1963It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as First Cab Driver
1962The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1 Episode) as Self
1956Crashing Las Vegas as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1955Dig That Uranium as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1955Jail Busters as Slip Mahoney
1955Spy Chasers as Slip Mahoney
1955High Society as Slip Mahoney
1955Bowery to Bagdad as Slip Mahoney
1954Jungle Gents as 'Slip' Mahoney
1954The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters as Slip Mahoney
1954Paris Playboys as Slip Mahoney
1953Private Eyes as Slip Mahoney
1953Clipped Wings as Slip Mahoney
1953Loose in London as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney
1953Jalopy as Terrence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1952No Holds Barred as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1952Feudin' Fools as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1952Here Come the Marines as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1952Hold That Line as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1951Crazy Over Horses as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1951Let's Go Navy! as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1951Ghost Chasers as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1951Bowery Battalion as Slip Mahoney
1950Blues Busters as Slip Mahoney
1950Triple Trouble as Slip Mahoney
1950Lucky Losers as Slip Mahoney
1950Blonde Dynamite as Slip Mahoney
1949Master Minds as Slip Mahoney
1949Angels in Disguise as Slip Mahoney
1949Hold That Baby! as Slip Mahoney
1949Fighting Fools as Slip Mahoney
1948Trouble Makers as Slip Mahoney
1948Smuggler's Cove as Slip Mahoney
1948Jinx Money as Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney
1948So This Is New York as Sid Mercer
1948Angels' Alley as Terence 'Slip' Mahoney
1947Bowery Buckaroos as Slip Mahoney
1947News Hounds as Terence J. Montgomery 'Slip' Mahoney
1947Hard Boiled Mahoney as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1946Mr. Hex as Slip Mahoney
1946Spook Busters as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1946Bowery Bombshell as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1946In Fast Company as Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney
1946Live Wires as Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney
1945Come Out Fighting as Muggs McGinnis
1945Midnight Manhunt as Clutch Tracy
1945Mr. Muggs Rides Again as Muggs McGinnis
1945Docks of New York as Muggs McGinnis
1944Bowery Champs as Muggs McGinnis
1944Block Busters as Muggs McGinnis
1944Follow the Leader as Muggs McGinnis
1944Million Dollar Kid as Muggs McGinnis
1943Mr. Muggs Steps Out as Muggs McGinnis
1943Destroyer as Seaman Sarecky
1943Ghosts on the Loose as Muggs McGinnis
1943Clancy Street Boys as Muggs McGinnis
1943Kid Dynamite as Muggs McGinnis
1942'Neath Brooklyn Bridge as Muggs McGinnis
1942Smart Alecks as Muggs McGinnis
1942Maisie Gets Her Man as Cecil
1942Let's Get Tough as Muggs McGinnis
1942Sunday Punch as 'Biff'
1942Mr. Wise Guy as Muggs McGinnis
1942Born to Sing as 'Snap' Collins
1941Spooks Run Wild as Muggs McGinnis
1941Bowery Blitzkrieg as Muggs McGinnis
1941Down in San Diego as 'Snap' Collins
1941Out of the Fog as Eddie
1941Angels with Broken Wings as Punchy Dorsey
1941Flying Wild as Muggs McGinnis
1940Pride of the Bowery as Muggs Maloney
1940Gallant Sons as Doc Reardon
1940Hullabaloo as Apartment House Bellhop
1940That Gang of Mine as Muggs Maloney
1940Boys of the City as Muggs McGinnis
1939Invisible Stripes as Jimmy
1939Private Detective as Newsboy (uncredited)
1939On Dress Parade as Slip Duncan
1939Angels Wash Their Faces as Leo Finnegan
1939Hell's Kitchen as Gyp Haller
1939They Made Me a Criminal as Spit
1938Swingtime in the Movies as Crime School Kid (uncredited)
1938Angels with Dirty Faces as Bim
1938Crime School as Charles 'Spike' Hawkins
1938The Beloved Brat as Spike Matz
1938Mannequin as Clifford Cassidy
1937Headin' East as Boy Boxer in Gym (uncredited)
1937Portia on Trial as Joe Gannow
1937Dead End as Spit