Leo Gorcey

Leo Gorcey

  • Birthday: 1917-06-03
  • Deathday: 1969-06-02
  • Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
  • Also know as: Leo Bernard 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

Kid Dynamite

1943

As Muggs McGinnis

Let's Get Tough

1942

As Muggs McGinnis

Mr. Wise Guy

1942

As Muggs McGinnis

Million Dollar Kid

1944

As Muggs McGinnis

Pride of the Bowery

1940

As Muggs Maloney

Bowery Blitzkrieg

1941

As Muggs McGinnis

Bowery to Bagdad

1955

As Slip Mahoney

Ghosts on the Loose

1943

As Muggs McGinnis

Jinx Money

1948

As Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney

Spook Busters

1946

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Flying Wild

1941

As Muggs McGinnis

Angels' Alley

1948

As Terence 'Slip' Mahoney

Bowery Buckaroos

1947

As Slip Mahoney

Loose in London

1953

As Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney

Smart Alecks

1942

As Muggs McGinnis

Ghost Chasers

1951

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Dig That Uranium

1955

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Hold That Line

1952

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Paris Playboys

1954

As Slip Mahoney

Jalopy

1953

As Terrence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Let's Go Navy!

1951

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

No Holds Barred

1952

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Feudin' Fools

1952

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Jungle Gents

1954

As 'Slip' Mahoney

Master Minds

1949

As Slip Mahoney

Clipped Wings

1953

As Slip Mahoney

Triple Trouble

1950

As Slip Mahoney

High Society

1955

As Slip Mahoney

Bowery Battalion

1951

As Slip Mahoney

Blues Busters

1950

As Slip Mahoney

Angels in Disguise

1949

As Slip Mahoney

Private Eyes

1953

As Slip Mahoney

Follow the Leader

1944

As Muggs McGinnis

Spy Chasers

1955

As Slip Mahoney

Jail Busters

1955

As Slip Mahoney

In Fast Company

1946

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Crashing Las Vegas

1956

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Here Come the Marines

1952

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge

1942

As Muggs McGinnis

Trouble Makers

1948

As Slip Mahoney

Mr. Muggs Rides Again

1945

As Muggs McGinnis

Blonde Dynamite

1950

As Slip Mahoney

Lucky Losers

1950

As Slip Mahoney

Mr. Hex

1946

As Slip Mahoney

Crazy Over Horses

1951

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Docks of New York

1945

As Muggs McGinnis

Hard Boiled Mahoney

1947

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Bowery Bombshell

1946

As Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

Clancy Street Boys

1943

As Muggs McGinnis

Smuggler's Cove

1948

As Slip Mahoney

Come Out Fighting

1945

As Muggs McGinnis

Block Busters

1944

As Muggs McGinnis

Mr. Muggs Steps Out

1943

As Muggs McGinnis

Bowery Champs

1944

As Muggs McGinnis

Hold That Baby!

1949

As Slip Mahoney

Live Wires

1946

As Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney

News Hounds

1947

As Terence J. Montgomery 'Slip' Mahoney

Fighting Fools

1949

As Slip Mahoney

Spooks Run Wild

1941

As Muggs McGinnis

Boys of the City

1940

As Muggs McGinnis

That Gang of Mine

1940

As Muggs Maloney

Midnight Manhunt

1945

As Clutch Tracy

Maisie Gets Her Man

1942

As Cecil

Born to Sing

1942

As 'Snap' Collins

Down in San Diego

1941

As 'Snap' Collins

Angels Wash Their Faces

1939

As Leo Finnegan

On Dress Parade

1939

As Slip Duncan

So This Is New York

1948

As Sid Mercer

Hell's Kitchen

1939

As Gyp Haller

Crime School

1938

As Charles 'Spike' Hawkins

Destroyer

1943

As Seaman Sarecky

Gallant Sons

1940

As Doc Reardon

Angels with Broken Wings

1941

As Punchy Dorsey

Mannequin

1938

As Clifford Cassidy

Sunday Punch

1942

As 'Biff'

The Beloved Brat

1938

As Spike Matz

Out of the Fog

1941

As Eddie

Swingtime in the Movies

1938

As Crime School Kid (uncredited)

Dead End

1937

As Spit

Headin' East

1937

As Boy Boxer in Gym (uncredited)

Invisible Stripes

1939

As Jimmy

Portia on Trial

1937

As Joe Gannow

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook

1991

As Muggs (archive footage)

Terror in the Pharaoh's Tomb

2007

As Muggs McGinnis (archive footage)

Hullabaloo

1940

As Apartment House Bellhop

Private Detective

1939

As Newsboy (uncredited)

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

1963

As First Cab Driver

The Phynx

1970

As Leo Gorcey

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983

As Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

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