Leo Gorcey

Acting · 0.8 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

On Dress Parade

19396.6

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

Hell's Kitchen

19396.8

Triple Trouble

19507.0

The Phynx

19703.5

Jail Busters

19556.7

Live Wires

19465.6

In Fast Company

19466.8

Destroyer

19436.8

Headin' East

193710.0

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook

19919.5

Jalopy

19535.3

Invisible Stripes

19396.2

Spooks Run Wild

19415.1

Let's Go Navy!

19518.0

So This Is New York

19486.7

Angels Wash Their Faces

19396.7

Midnight Manhunt

19454.6

Bowery to Bagdad

19556.3

Ghosts on the Loose

19434.2

Crashing Las Vegas

19565.7

Crime School

19386.4

They Made Me a Criminal

19396.3

Block Busters

19448.0

Mr. Wise Guy

19426.6

Bowery Blitzkrieg

19416.1

That Gang of Mine

19405.8

The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters

19545.4

Follow the Leader

19443.8

Classic Comedy Teams

19867.0

Born to Sing

19425.4

Blonde Dynamite

19506.8

Feudin' Fools

19525.5

Angels with Broken Wings

19415.3

Docks of New York

19458.0

Fighting Fools

19496.0

Mannequin

19386.0

Out of the Fog

19416.3

Private Detective

19396.8

Maisie Gets Her Man

19426.7

Loose in London

19535.9

Portia on Trial

19375.8

Ghost Chasers

19516.8

Dig That Uranium

19554.3

Jungle Gents

19545.2

High Society

19555.7

Down in San Diego

19416.7

Hold That Line

19527.0

Mr. Muggs Steps Out

19438.0

Flying Wild

19416.1

Bowery Bombshell

19466.5

Come Out Fighting

19457.5

Sunday Punch

19426.0

Swingtime in the Movies

19386.0

Smuggler's Cove

19485.3

Angels' Alley

19485.2

Paris Playboys

19545.0

Lucky Losers

19506.6

News Hounds

19476.8

The Beloved Brat

19386.5

Blues Busters

19506.7

Private Eyes

19537.8

Clancy Street Boys

19436.6

Gallant Sons

19407.4

Mr. Hex

19467.3

Terror in the Pharaoh's Tomb

2007

Angels in Disguise

19496.0

Clipped Wings

19537.0

Hard Boiled Mahoney

19476.8

Crazy Over Horses

19516.7

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge

19426.3

Spy Chasers

19558.0

Bowery Champs

19447.3

Master Minds

19496.4

Kid Dynamite

19437.0

Bowery Buckaroos

19476.6

Mr. Muggs Rides Again

19457.0

Smart Alecks

19425.8

Trouble Makers

19486.1

Boys of the City

19405.3

Jinx Money

19485.6

Spook Busters

19465.5

Hullabaloo

19406.5

Here Come the Marines

19527.3

Pride of the Bowery

19406.2

Let's Get Tough

19425.3

Million Dollar Kid

19445.9

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar

19665.3

Bowery Battalion

19518.5

Hold That Baby!

19495.8

No Holds Barred

19525.6

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter

20208.0