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Leo Gorcey

Leo Gorcey

Birthday: 1917-06-03 | Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1956
Crashing Las Vegas

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1954
Jungle Gents

as    'Slip' Mahoney

1954
The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters

as    Slip Mahoney

1953
Loose in London

as    Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney

1952
Hold That Line

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1952
Here Come the Marines

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1951
Ghost Chasers

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1951
Crazy Over Horses

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1949
Angels in Disguise

as    Slip Mahoney

1948
Smuggler's Cove

as    Slip Mahoney

1948
Trouble Makers

as    Slip Mahoney

1948
Angels' Alley

as    Terence 'Slip' Mahoney

1947
Hard Boiled Mahoney

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1946
Bowery Bombshell

as    Terence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney

1946
Live Wires

as    Terrence 'Slip' Mahoney

1945
Midnight Manhunt

as    Clutch Tracy

1944
Follow the Leader

as    Muggs McGinnis

1943
Destroyer

as    Seaman Sarecky

1942
Sunday Punch

as    'Biff'

1942
Born to Sing

as    'Snap' Collins

1942
Maisie Gets Her Man

as    Cecil

1942
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge

as    Muggs McGinnis

1942
Mr. Wise Guy

as    Muggs McGinnis

1941
Out of the Fog

as    Eddie

1941
Spooks Run Wild

as    Muggs McGinnis

1941
Angels with Broken Wings

as    Punchy Dorsey

1940
Gallant Sons

as    Doc Reardon

1940
Boys of the City

as    Muggs McGinnis

1939
Angels Wash Their Faces

as    Leo Finnegan

1939
They Made Me a Criminal

as    Spit