Dead End Kids

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The Dead End Kids were five young actors and one ex-plumber's assistant, from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's play Dead End in 1935 on Broadway. They were then imported en masse to Hollywood by William Wyler in 1937 when he filmed the play, and proved to be so popular that they remained as a more or less viable entity until their final film (as the Bowery Boys) in 1958. (See Bowery for more information about this Manhattan street.)

The original kids from the play were Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Charles Duncan, Bernard Punsly and Gabriel Dell. Sometime during the original run, Duncan was replaced in the role of Spit by his understudy, Leo B. Gorcey, who went on to achieve fame as the resident weasel and wise guy. Gorcey later became better known as Muggs in Monogram's East Side Kids series, and as Slip Mahoney when Monogram Studios (now known as Allied Artists) changed the group to the Bowery Boys.

Following the success of Dead End, the kids (who were by nature rambunctious) ended up at Warner Bros. where they made several more films, most of which are considered to be the best they made as a group, especially Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), and They Made Me A Criminal (1939). During this period they established their reputations for hell-raising and studio demolishing. The group (minus Gorcey) also worked at Universal between 1938-1943. During this time they worked with another group of young actors who were billed as the Little Tough Guys, Universal's own entry into the juvenile delinquent genre, one of whom was Gorcey's brother David, and another, Charles Duncan, was originally cast in the role of Spit in the original play. They made several films for Universal before throwing in the towel in 1943. By this time, Jordan had left the Dead End Kids series to co-star with Gorcey in the East Side Kids films for Monogram, and both Hall and Dell were busy working in both series.

The group added the term dead end kid to the language as it came to refer to any group of troublesome, boisterous youths, and they became forever typecast in their roles, which may have led to the numerous problems and run-ins they subsequently had over the years with the authorities.

Image:Deadendkidsstar.jpg

Bernard Punsly was the last surviving member of The Dead End Kids, having died in 2004.

The Dead Ends Kids were:

Billy Halop (Tommy)

Huntz Hall (Dippy)

Bobby Jordan (Angel)

Leo Gorcey (Spit)

Gabriel Dell (T. B)

Bernard Punsly (Milty)

[edit] Films of The Dead End Kids

Dead End 1937

Crime School 1938

Angels With Dirty Faces 1938

Little Tough Guy 1938

They Made Me A Criminal 1939

Hell's Kitchen 1939

The Angels Wash Their Faces 1939

The Dead End Kids On Dress Parade 1939

As "The Little Tough Guys & Dead End Kids"

Call a Messenger 1939

You're Not So Tough 1940

Junior G-Men 1940

Give Us Wings 1940

Hit The Road 1941

Sea Raiders 1941

Mob Town 1941

Junior G-Men of the Air 1942

Tough As They Come 1942

Mug Town 1943

Keep 'Em Slugging 1943

During their cinematic career, the leader role shifted from Halop to Jordan, who returned to the series after leaving in 1940 to take over the role of Tom, the gang leader, in their last film.