Bernard Gorcey
Bernard Gorcey (9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was a Russian actor. He was a professional vaudeville actor on Broadway who starred in 5 shorts and 67 films. He is best remembered for playing ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series of B movies.
Bernard Gorcey | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 11 September 1955 69) Hollywood, California, US | (aged
Cause of death | Injuries sustained from car crash |
Occupation | Actor |
Spouse(s) | Josephine Condon (m. 1914) |
Children | 3, including Leo Gorcey and David Gorcey |
Stage career
Very early on Gorcey focused on comedy roles in his acting career, rather than trying to get the lead role. Between 1907 and 1937 he had a role in several stage play productions including Tom Jones (1912), What Ails You? (1918), Somebody's Sweetheart (1920) (as "A Mysterious Conspirator"), Always You (1922) (as "Isaac Cohen"), Abie's Irish Rose (1923), Wildflower (1925) (as "Gaston La Roche"), Song of the Flame (1927) (as “Count Boris”), Cherry Blossoms (1930) (as "George Washington Goto"), Pressing Business (1931), Joy of Living (1931), Wonder Boy (1932) (as "Commodore Cohen"), Keeping Expenses Down (1935) (as "Kent J. Goldstein"), Creeping Fire (1935) (as "Mr. Goodman"), and Satellite (1937) (as "Max Goldblatz").
The most successful show of Gorcey’s entire career was Abie’s Irish Rose.[1]
Radio and film career
He also performed some radio work for the Popeye Show. At 42 years old, he began working in movies. Starting in 1928, he appeared in 67 movies, with minor roles with both Monogram and Warner Bros.[2]
Forty-four of these were with sons Leo and David in The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys film series. Between 1946 and 1955, there were between four and five Bowery Boys movies annually with Gorcey playing the role of Louie Dumbrowski, the owner of a sweet shop where the Bowery Boys would "hang out," usually getting free sodas while planning their next escapade, much to Dumbrowski's displeasure. He also appeared as Charlie Chaplin's meek Jewish neighbor Mr. Mann in the film classic The Great Dictator (1940).
Personal life
Gorcey married Josephine Condon (1897-1975) in 1914 and had 3 sons, Leo, David, and Fred.
Death
On August 31, 1955, he crashed his car into a bus on 4th & LaBrea, Los Angeles. On September 11, 1955, he died from his injuries.[3]
Filmography
Year | Title | Lewis role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1928 | Abie's Irish Rose | Isaac Cohen | |
1931 | Words & Music | Walter | Short film |
1933 | Pie a la Mode | Unknown | Short film |
1933 | Nothing But the Tooth | Unknown | Short film |
1934 | Syncopated City | Mr. McGillicuddy | Short film |
1936 | Bulldog Edition | Newsstand Proprietor | |
1940 | The Great Dictator | Mr. Mann | |
1941 | So Ends Our Night | Carnival Barker | |
1941 | Footlight Fever | Shrimp | |
1941 | Out of the Fog | Sam Pepper | |
1941 | Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime | Little Man with Car Tires | |
1942 | Joan of Paris | Parisian Waiting at Confessional | |
1942 | Black Dragons | The Cabbie | |
1942 | A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen | Man with Tires at Nightclub | |
1942 | Bowery at Midnight | Shopkeeper | |
1943 | Clancy Street Boys | Liquor Store Owner | East Side Kids film |
1943 | A Rookie's Cookie | Unknown | Short film |
1943 | The Unknown Guest | Messenger with Telegram | |
1944 | Follow the Leader | Ginsberg | East Side Kids film |
1944 | Block Busters | Lippman | East Side Kids film |
1944 | Bowery Champs | Mr. Johnson | East Side Kids film |
1945 | I Was a Criminal | Second Railroad Employee | |
1945 | Docks of New York | Kessel | East Side Kids film |
1945 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Stagehand | |
1945 | Mr. Muggs Rides Again | Meyer | East Side Kids film |
1946 | Live Wires | Jack Kane | The Bowery Boys film |
1946 | The French Key | Little Man | |
1946 | In Fast Company | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1946 | Bowery Bombshell | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1946 | Spook Busters | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1946 | Mr. Hex | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1947 | Hard Boiled Mahoney | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1947 | News Hounds | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1947 | Bowery Buckaroos | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1947 | High Wall | Hirsch | |
1947 | The Peanut Man | Unknown | |
1948 | Jinx Money | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1948 | No Minor Vices | Mr. Zitzfleisch | |
1948 | Trouble Makers | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1949 | Fighting Fools | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1949 | The Set-Up | Tobacco Man | |
1949 | Hold That Baby! | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1949 | Angels in Disguise | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1949 | The Doctor and the Girl | Patient with Newspaper | |
1949 | Master Minds | Louie | The Bowery Boys film |
1950 | Blonde Dynamite | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1950 | Lucky Losers | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1950 | Triple Trouble | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1950 | Blues Busters | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1951 | Bowery Battalion | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1951 | Ghost Chasers | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1951 | Pickup | Joe | |
1951 | Let's Go Navy! | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1951 | Journey Into Light | Flophouse Clerk | |
1951 | Crazy Over Horses | Louis Xavier 'Louie' Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1951 | Chicago Calling | Unknown | |
1952 | Hold That Line | Louie Dumbrowski / Morris Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1952 | Here Come the Marines | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1952 | Feudin' Fools | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1952 | No Holds Barred | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1953 | Jalopy | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1953 | Loose in London | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1953 | Clipped Wings | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1953 | Private Eyes | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1954 | Paris Playboys | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1954 | The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1954 | Jungle Gents | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1954 | I Married Joan | Joe Perkins/Bailiff/Frisbee/Auction Assistant | 7 episodes, TV Series |
1955 | Bowery to Bagdad | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1955 | High Society | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1955 | Spy Chasers | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film |
1955 | Jail Busters | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film; released posthumously |
1956 | Dig That Uranium | Louie Dumbrowski | The Bowery Boys film; final film role, released posthumously |
References
- "Archive for Bernard Gorcey". Travalanche. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- Rovi. "Bernard Gorcey Biography". Fandago.
- https://victoriaanneparker.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/i-know-you-can-hear-me-the-story-of-leo-and-bernard-gorcey-of-the-bowery-boys/