Leo Gorcey: Bobby Jordan's Funeral

[rem2267]

I remember seeing Bobby Jordan in a very small role in a 1940 Mickey Rooney movie called "Young Tom Edison." Rooney played the title role and Jordan played a neighbor who was nasty and is fed a cocktail that totally f's up his stomach and is laughed at by a gaggle of other kids. I remember shaking my head, feeling so sorry for him. To add insult to injury, at the end he gets punched in the face by Mickey. I felt even worse for him then. So sad.

[jlovebirch]

Jordan only did a few Bowery Boys films as he didn't care for the new series being totally based on the Slip & Satch characters. The team spirit was gone. He, Billy Halop, and Gabriel Dell all seemed destined for better things but it didn't work out that way. Huntz Hall had twice the talent of goofballs like Adam Sandler, but never got paid zillions per picture like today.

[rwaggs62]

If these guys were around today, in their youth, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Sunshine Sammy, Gabe Dell, Billy Halop, etc., they would be the highest paid actors in comedy/drama...these kids were the most talented young men Hollywood has ever seen...They could play straight up knife stabbing drama to complete 3-Stooges style slaptick comedy...and everything in between...No one today can come close to these guys...

[gropingwithastoker]

Why would Leo call Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison "Leo"? I mean, if my name was Leo I doubt I'd refer to a co-worker whose name I'd forgotten as Leo as well.

Ernie was, by the way, the first black actor ever signed to a long term contract way back in 1919.

[gropingwithastoker]

@DavidHenesy I'm at a bit of a loss as to why Ernie would consider Leo re-naming him after himself "a name of endearment", but whatever. I generally call my friends by their own names rather than mine.

As far as your entirely irrelevant comment about your trip to Amsterdam, do enjoy, but you may want to go easy on the substances. I'm not sure you need them. Cheers.

[DavidHenesy]

@gropingwithastoker true but they were stoned....

luv, Sophie and... the evil ones >:D (:)~) >:(\)

[lorrie1956]

Ya sure do a lotta' advertising fer yasef on these long too short clips, kinda hoggin' the kids heeah' ain't ya??

[LkOutMtnMan]

I believe the black dancer is the same actor in the movie with Jimmy Stewart called Pot of Gold. He is very talented for sure!

[Shelby1314]

Racist, yeah maybe, but unfortunately alot of us didn't know any better back then. Do they have to put a label on everything?

[TheMRBILL40]

I've heard of heavy drinking before, but Bobby Jordan and Leo Gorcey really must've drowned themselves in the bottle pretty hard later in life after their film careers wound down... C'mon, Bobby died of cirrhosis of the liver at age 42 in 1965 and Leo died just a day shy of his 52nd birthday later in '69.... That's pretty sad.......

[MisterMasterShafter]

As for the "racist" claim (I wish these idiots would go jump off a cliff) it wasn't that at all. None of these guys made a lot of money from those films. Leo made the most, but he still wasn't rolling in dough. "Where'd you steal that?" was not only a popular joking phrase from then, but again, those guys didn't make a lot of money off those films.

[MisterMasterShafter]

It's sad what happened to Bobby. After he returned from the service and the gang changed from the East Side Kids to the Bowery Boys, his role and importance was reduced and he left. His life and career didn't turn out like he wanted, and like Leo for other reasons (Leo's dad's death) he turned to the bottle and died much the same way - a shot liver. Bobby was a good actor, like Leo, who never got the work he deserved. When I see these talentless retards now making millions, it turns my stomach.

[thecaptain2315]

i remember when we caught this dude gary smith of eastlake,ohio jacking off to the bowery boys late one friday nite!!!!!

[annikee59]

I love to hear the old NY accent. Reminds me of my uncle, the only one in the family with the full Brooklyn accent and slang. It's all but dead now.

[poeforward]

Cool. Thanks.

[1400deadwood]

'"where'd you steal that?" we said it so often it became a slang phrase instead of a joke '

Yup. That's what we used to say in Brooklyn in the old days.

[Geezer]

God, they were so racist back then, and they didn't even realize it. He's shocked that a black man drives a caddy and asks if he stole it. He doesn't even remember his correct name. Hmmm.

[akwaqs]

Honestly, I don't think Leo Gorcey was making a racist comment. Back in my school days whenever some kid had new clothes we'd say "where'd you steal that?" we said it so often it became a slang phrase instead of a joke. The Bowery Boys were paid such little wages for their films, I could see "Mugsy" surprised with Sammy's success in the tech industry.

[Hoopermazing]

@Geezer - They were wise cracking street kids who lived in a time when the standard of living for working class people wasn't nearly what it is today (you young people will be able to identify with that in 20 or so years when the bread-lines return.) Why do you say that he didn't remember his name? He'd worked under the stage name, Sunshine Sammy Morrison since he was a baby. What is amazing is that Hal Roach cast Sammy, Farina, Stymie and Buckwheat in the early 20th century.

[candy1945]

BOBBY JORDAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE KID. My grandson looks a lot like Bobby Jordan. Hells Kitchen was my favorite.

[ShockDoc]

I think he meant 'Sunshine Sammy' Morrison, not 'Sunshine Leo' Morrison. Lamparski should've known better, but Gorcey continues w/ the same stupid blunder.

[Gerkinstock]

Ernie Morrison was the first person cast by Hal Roach for his Our Gang series, which lasted 22 years. He died from cancer in 1989 at the age of 77.