
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.
Acting (95 movies)

Kid Dynamite
1943

Let's Get Tough
1942

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963

Midnight Manhunt
1945

Million Dollar Kid
1944

Mr. Wise Guy
1942

Pride of the Bowery
1940

Mannequin
1938

Out of the Fog
1941

They Made Me a Criminal
1939

Dead End
1937

Angels with Dirty Faces
1938

Spooks Run Wild
1941

The Phynx
1970

Bowery Blitzkrieg
1941

Bowery to Bagdad
1955

Jinx Money
1948

Ghosts on the Loose
1943

Spook Busters
1946

Crime School
1938

Born to Sing
1942

So This Is New York
1948

Boys of the City
1940

Flying Wild
1941

Maisie Gets Her Man
1942

Angels' Alley
1948

Destroyer
1943

Bowery Bombshell
1946

Bowery Buckaroos
1947

The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters
1954

Loose in London
1953

Melekler Yüzlerini Yıkıyor
1939

Smart Alecks
1942

Ghost Chasers
1951

Dig That Uranium
1955

Hold That Line
1952

Jalopy
1953

Paris Playboys
1954

Let's Go Navy!
1951

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991

Swingtime in the Movies
1938

Feudin' Fools
1952

No Holds Barred
1952

Jungle Gents
1954

Triple Trouble
1950

Clipped Wings
1953

Master Minds
1949

High Society
1955

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar
1966

Bowery Battalion
1951

Blues Busters
1950

Angels in Disguise
1949

Private Eyes
1953

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983

Follow the Leader
1944

Hell's Kitchen
1939

Spy Chasers
1955

The Beloved Brat
1938

Jail Busters
1955

In Fast Company
1946

Crashing Las Vegas
1956

On Dress Parade
1939

Gallant Sons
1940

Here Come the Marines
1952

Trouble Makers
1948

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
1942

Terror in the Pharaoh's Tomb
2007

Mr. Muggs Rides Again
1945

Blonde Dynamite
1950

Angels with Broken Wings
1941

Lucky Losers
1950

Mr. Hex
1946

Crazy Over Horses
1951

Docks of New York
1945

Hard Boiled Mahoney
1947

Portia on Trial
1937

That Gang of Mine
1940

Clancy Street Boys
1943

Smuggler's Cove
1948

Sunday Punch
1942

Hullabaloo
1940

Mr. Muggs Steps Out
1943

Block Busters
1944

Bowery Champs
1944

Come Out Fighting
1945

Hold That Baby!
1949

Live Wires
1946

News Hounds
1947

Fighting Fools
1949

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter
2020

Down in San Diego
1941

Private Detective
1939

Invisible Stripes
1939

Headin' East
1937

Classic Comedy Teams
1986
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