Charles J. "Buddy" Gorman[1] (September 2, 1921 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying a member of the comedy teams The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys.
Career
Buddy was born and raised in the "Hell's Kitchen" area of New York. He left home after high school and hitchhiked to California in hopes of becoming an actor. He got a job in a studio mailroom and slept in a nearby used car lot until he was noticed and given small parts in movies. Although Gorman was then in his mid-twenties, his youthful appearance got him cast as streetwise teenagers. Producer Sam Katzman hired Gorman for Monogram's East Side Kids comedies with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall, where he was billed as Bud Gorman.
Away from the Gorcey-Hall gang, Gorman played bits in major feature films, almost always without billing. He is most noticeable in two Technicolor productions, The Jolson Story (1946, as Jimmy, the backstage call boy) and The Perils of Pauline (1947, as a heckler in a vaudeville audience).
When the East Side Kids series was reorganized as The Bowery Boys, Gorman was not part of the six-man gang but continued to participate, playing minor supporting roles. When Bennie Bartlett (playing "Butch") left the troupe, Gorman -- now billed as Buddy Gorman -- replaced him for the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Gorman bowed out of the series to get married, and Bartlett returned to replace him.
Personal life
Gorman was introduced to Rosemary (Rosa) Christoff, originally of Lima, Ohio, by a mutual friend. She was working as a secretary to the art department director at NBC studios. Gorman and Christoff were married on June 17, 1951. Gorman retired from acting and opened a magic shop in North Hollywood.
The Gormans had two daughters. Soon after the girls were born, the family moved to Riverside, California, and ran a novelty/magic shop called "Fun-N-Stuff" until they retired in 1991. They were married for 46 years, until her death in 1997. In 2005, Gorman moved to an independent living community in Webster, New York.
Gorman died on April 1, 2010, in Webster, age 88.[2]
Partial filmography
Hi Diddle Diddle (1943) - Brokerage Firm Office Boy (uncredited)
^Hollywood's Made-To-Order-Punks: The Complete Film History of the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids, and Bowery Boys, Richard Roat, BearManor Media, 2010.
