Profile of Leo Gorcey on Famous Like Me

Leo Gorcey (June 3, 1917 - June 2, 1969) is an American actor.

In 1915, 14-year-old Josephine Condon gave birth to a son, Fred. Two years later, another son, Leo was born in New York City. Always the most pugnacious of all the gangs he participated in, Leo Bernard Gorcey was the filmic prototype of the wise-ass young punk. In 1921, his younger (and most recognized) brother, David Gorcey, was born. Gorcey was the shortest, and the oldest of the original gang. As Spit in both the original stage play of Dead End and the movie, Gorcey created a quarrelsome guttersnipe whose greatest joy was in making trouble. It was in 1935 that younger brother David persuaded Leo to try out for a small part in the play, and, having just lost his job as a plumber's apprentice, Leo decided what the hell.

Originally in the play, Leo and David were two members of the Second Avenue Gang, with limited stage time, but after Charles Duncan, who was originally cast as Spit left, Gorcey, his understudy, was promoted. In 1937, Samuel Goldwyn made the popular play into a movie, and transported the six boys to Hollywood, and Gorcey became one of the busiest actors for the next 20 years. In 1937-1939, he starred in seven Dead End Kids movies; from 1940-1945 in 21 East Side Kids movies; and from 1946-1956 in 41 Bowery Boys movies.

In 1939 Leo married 17-year-old dancer Kay Marvis, who appeared in four of his Monogram movies. They got divorced in 1944 after five years of marriage. Later, she married Groucho Marx, who Gorcey had worked with on radio's Pabst Blue Ribbon Town. In 1949, Leo married Amelita Ward, whom he met while filming Smugglers Cove. They gave birth to Leo Gorcey Jr. during their marriage.

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