Leo Gorcey

Biography

Leo Gorcey was an American actor who spent his career playing streetwise city toughs, first as one of the Dead End Kids, then the East Side Kids, and finally, as an adult, a Bowery Boy. Born in New York City to vaudevillian actors, he auditioned for Sidney Kingsley's play Dead End and, after the actor cast as Spit left, took over the part, developing a quarrelsome guttersnipe persona. Samuel Goldwyn brought the cast to Hollywood for the 1937 film Dead End, and Gorcey went on to seven Dead End Kids features, 21 East Side Kids films and 41 Bowery Boys films. His malapropism-laden wisecracks, spoken with a Brooklyn accent, became his trademark. He also appeared on the radio program Pabst Blue Ribbon Town and had his last straight role in the 1948 comedy So This Is New York. In 1967 he self-published an autobiography.

51years old at death

Born June 3, 1917New York City
Died June 2, 1969Oakland
Star sign: GeminiThe sign runs May 21 to June 20
Also credited as Leo Bernard Gorcey

Movie Career

Films: 10
Career span: 13 years1937 to 1950

Genres

Crime50%, 5 films
Drama50%, 5 films
Comedy40%, 4 films
Horror20%, 2 films
Film-Noir10%, 1 film

First and latest

Did you know?!

First role
The Gorcey boys had small roles as members of the East 53rd Place Gang in Sidney Kingsley's play Dead End. When Charles Duncan, cast as Spit, left the play, Gorcey was promoted because he was the understudy.
A role that slipped away
Gorcey parted ways with the Bowery Boys, and Stanley Clements took his place in the last seven films of the series.

Leo Gorcey movies on Netflix

Blues Busters1950IMDb rating 6.7as Slip Mahoney
Million Dollar Kid1944IMDb rating 6.1as Muggs McGinnis
Ghosts on the Loose1943IMDb rating 5.0as Mugs McGinnis
Out of the Fog1941IMDb rating 6.7as Eddie
Spooks Run Wild1941IMDb rating 5.3as Muggs McGinnis
Invisible Stripes1939IMDb rating 6.7as Jimmy
They Made Me a Criminal1939IMDb rating 6.8as Spit
Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8as Bim
Mannequin1938IMDb rating 6.6as Clifford Cassidy
Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2as Spit

Best known for

The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.

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Angels with Dirty Faces1938 Crime, Drama, Film-Noiras Bim
IMDb rating 7.825K votes
Ghosts on the Loose1943 Comedy, Horroras Mugs McGinnis
IMDb rating 5.01.8K votes
Spooks Run Wild1941as Muggs McGinnis
IMDb rating 5.32.0K votes
Dead End1937as Spit
IMDb rating 7.29.7K votes
Blues Busters1950as Slip Mahoney
IMDb rating 6.7529 votes
They Made Me a Criminal1939as Spit
IMDb rating 6.82.9K votes
Mannequin1938as Clifford Cassidy
IMDb rating 6.61.6K votes
Out of the Fog1941as Eddie
IMDb rating 6.72.8K votes

Most often with

William Beaudine directed two of these films. Huntz Hall appears in seven of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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Huntz Hall

Gabriel Dell

Bobby Jordan

Humphrey Bogart

William 'Billy' Benedict

Billy HalopWilliam BeaudineDirector, 2 films

Films together

Huntz Hall7 films together, 1937 to 1950
Huntz Hall's page
- Blues Busters1950IMDb rating 6.7Gorcey as Slip MahoneyHall as Horace DeBussy 'Sach' Jones, aka The Bowery Thrush
- Million Dollar Kid1944IMDb rating 6.1Gorcey as Muggs McGinnisHall as Glimpy McClosky
- Ghosts on the Loose1943IMDb rating 5.0Gorcey as Mugs McGinnisHall as Glimpy
- Spooks Run Wild1941IMDb rating 5.3Gorcey as Muggs McGinnisHall as Glimpy
- They Made Me a Criminal1939IMDb rating 6.8Gorcey as SpitHall as Dippy
- Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8Gorcey as BimHall as Crab
- Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2Gorcey as SpitHall as Dippy
Gabriel Dell5 films together, 1937 to 1950
Gabriel Dell's page
- Blues Busters1950IMDb rating 6.7Gorcey as Slip MahoneyDell as Gabe Moreno
- Million Dollar Kid1944IMDb rating 6.1Gorcey as Muggs McGinnisDell as Lefty
- They Made Me a Criminal1939IMDb rating 6.8Gorcey as SpitDell as T.B.
- Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8Gorcey as BimDell as Pasty
- Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2Gorcey as SpitDell as T. B.
Bobby Jordan5 films together, 1937 to 1943
Bobby Jordan's page
- Ghosts on the Loose1943IMDb rating 5.0Gorcey as Mugs McGinnisJordan as Danny
- Spooks Run Wild1941IMDb rating 5.3Gorcey as Muggs McGinnisJordan as Danny
- They Made Me a Criminal1939IMDb rating 6.8Gorcey as SpitJordan as Angel
- Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8Gorcey as BimJordan as Swing
- Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2Gorcey as SpitJordan as Angel
Humphrey Bogart3 films together, 1937 to 1939
Humphrey Bogart's page
- Invisible Stripes1939IMDb rating 6.7Gorcey as JimmyBogart as Chuck Martin
- Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8Gorcey as BimBogart as James Frazier
- Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2Gorcey as SpitBogart as "Baby Face" Martin
William 'Billy' Benedict3 films together, 1943 to 1950
William 'Billy' Benedict's page
- Blues Busters1950IMDb rating 6.7Gorcey as Slip MahoneyBenedict as Whitey
- Million Dollar Kid1944IMDb rating 6.1Gorcey as Muggs McGinnisBenedict as Skinny(Billy Benedict)
- Ghosts on the Loose1943IMDb rating 5.0Gorcey as Mugs McGinnisBenedict as Benny(Billy Benedict)
Billy Halop3 films together, 1937 to 1939
Billy Halop's page
- They Made Me a Criminal1939IMDb rating 6.8Gorcey as SpitHalop as Tommy
- Angels with Dirty Faces1938IMDb rating 7.8Gorcey as BimHalop as Soapy
- Dead End1937IMDb rating 7.2Gorcey as SpitHalop as Tommy
William BeaudineDirector, 2 films, 1943 to 1950
All films by William Beaudine
- Blues Busters1950IMDb rating 6.7Gorcey as Slip Mahoney
- Ghosts on the Loose1943IMDb rating 5.0Gorcey as Mugs McGinnis
Also three films together1 more actor
- Bernard PunslyThey Made Me a Criminal (1939), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and Dead End (1937)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.

Online

Official profiles and reference pages.

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