Bernard Gorcey (born Baruch Ugorsky; 9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was an American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series of B movies. He also appeared in Charlie Chaplin's 1940 classic The Great Dictator.
Bernard Gorcey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Baruch Ugorsky 9 January 1886[1] Kovno, Russian Empire |
| Died | 11 September 1955 (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse |
Josephine Condon (m. 1914) |
| Children | 4, including Leo Gorcey and David Gorcey |
Early life
editGorcey was born Baruch Ugorsky in Kovno, Russian Empire (now Kaunas, Lithuania), the son of Abraham and Leah Ugorsky. His father, a tailor, immigrated to New York in March 1888; three years later, the rest of the family followed when Bernard was 5.[2] The family moved to Long Branch, New Jersey in the 1900s and changed the surname to Gorcey.[3] His mother died in 1915.[4]
Career
editStage
editEarly in his career, Gorcey found success in comedy roles. Between 1907 and 1937 he played in several stage 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 (1925) (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").[citation needed]
The most successful show of Gorcey’s theatrical career was Abie's Irish Rose.[5]
Radio and film
editHe also performed some radio work for the Popeye Show. At 42 years old, he began working in movies. From 1928 until 1955, he appeared in 67 movies, with minor roles with both Monogram and Warner Bros.[6]
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 Bernard 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
editIn 1914, Gorcey married Josephine Condon (1897-1975), from Wales, and had three sons, Fred, Leo, and David, and a daughter, Audrey.[7][8]
On 31 August 1955, he crashed his car into a bus on 4th and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. He died from his injuries on 11 September.[9]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | 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 | Million Dollar Kid | Courier | East Side Kids film |
| 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 | Bowery Boys film |
| 1946 | The French Key | Little Man | |
| 1946 | In Fast Company | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1946 | Bowery Bombshell | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1946 | Spook Busters | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1946 | Mr. Hex | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1947 | Hard Boiled Mahoney | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1947 | News Hounds | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1947 | Bowery Buckaroos | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1947 | High Wall | Hirsch | |
| 1947 | The Peanut Man | Unknown | |
| 1948 | Jinx Money | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1948 | No Minor Vices | Mr. Zitzfleisch | |
| 1948 | Trouble Makers | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1949 | Fighting Fools | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1949 | The Set-Up | Tobacco Man | |
| 1949 | Hold That Baby! | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1949 | Angels in Disguise | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1949 | The Doctor and the Girl | Patient with Newspaper | |
| 1949 | Master Minds | Louie | Bowery Boys film |
| 1950 | Blonde Dynamite | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1950 | Lucky Losers | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1950 | Triple Trouble | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1950 | Blues Busters | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1951 | Bowery Battalion | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1951 | Ghost Chasers | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1951 | Pickup | Joe | |
| 1951 | Let's Go Navy! | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1951 | Journey Into Light | Flophouse Clerk | |
| 1951 | Crazy Over Horses | Louis Xavier 'Louie' Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1951 | Chicago Calling | Unknown | |
| 1952 | Hold That Line | Louie Dumbrowski / Morris Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1952 | Here Come the Marines | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1952 | Feudin' Fools | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1952 | No Holds Barred | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1953 | Jalopy | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1953 | Loose in London | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1953 | Clipped Wings | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1953 | Private Eyes | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1954 | Paris Playboys | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1954 | The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1954 | Jungle Gents | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1954 | I Married Joan | Joe Perkins/Bailiff/Frisbee/Auction Assistant | 7 episodes, TV Series |
| 1955 | Bowery to Bagdad | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1955 | High Society | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1955 | Spy Chasers | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film |
| 1955 | Jail Busters | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film; released posthumously |
| 1956 | Dig That Uranium | Louie Dumbrowski | Bowery Boys film; final film role, released posthumously |
References
edit- ^ U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918
- ^ Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850–1934
- ^ "Actor's Father Dies at Shore". Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park, New Jersey. July 15, 1940. p. 1. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
- ^ "In Memoriam". The Daily Record. February 21, 1924. p. 1. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
- ^ "Archive for Bernard Gorcey". Travalanche. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ Rovi. "Bernard Gorcey Biography". Fandago.
- ^ "David Gorcey, 'Bowery Boy,' Is Dead at 63". The Washington Post. October 29, 1984. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Gorcey, Josephine (9 June 1975). "Josephine Gorcey Obituary". The Corning Dailey Observer. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "I Know You Can Hear me: The Story of Leo and Bernard Gorcey of the Bowery Boys". 7 June 2016.