Background
Gorcey was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, the son of Josephine (née Condon) and Bernard Gorcey. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant and his mother was an Irish Catholic immigrant.
Gorcey was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, the son of Josephine (née Condon) and Bernard Gorcey. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant and his mother was an Irish Catholic immigrant.
He was the younger brother of fellow Bowery Boy Leo Gorcey. And entered the entertainment business at a young age. He appeared in vaudeville during his childhood, and eventually made it to the stage and screen.
He is not usually thought of as one of the "original" Dead End Kids, but he did have a small role in the 1935 Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley"s Dead End.
Although not in the movie Dead End (1937), David Gorcey was eventually cast in Universal Pictures" Little Tough Guys, an offshoot of the Dead End Kids. He later joined brother Leo in Monogram Pictures" East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys series.
Foreign five years he was credited as "David Condon" (or in one instance, "David Conden"), using his mother"s maiden name to avoid accusations of nepotism. He reverted to his real name in 1957.
He occasionally appeared apart from the gang, in such films as Sergeant Madden (1939), The Babe Ruth Story (1948), and Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950).