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.
Early life
Gorcey 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
Stage
Early 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
He 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
In 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]
