BIOGRAPHY
Born: Apr 01, 1923 in New York City, New York
Died: Sep 10, 1965 in Sawtelle, California
Occupation: Actor
Active: '30s-'40s
Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
Career Highlights: Mr. Wise Guy, They
Made Me a Criminal
First Major
Screen Credit: Crime School (1938)
Bobby was raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
By the time he was four and a half,
he could act, tap dance and play the Saxophone. He made his stage debut in 1930 and film debut at Universal Studios
in 1933 where he appeared in short subjects and a bit part in the 1934 Eddie Cantor film, "Kid Millions".
He then appeared on Broadway in
"Dead End", which opened on October 28, 1935. He left the show in mid-November 1936 to appear in the MGM film version of "Dead
End".
Warner Brothers studios signed the all
of the Dead End Kids to contracts. At the peak of his career, Bobby made $1,500 a week, owned a $150,000 home in Beverly Hills
and was the sole support of his mother, two brothers a sister and a niece.
In 1940, Bobby returned to Universal
to appear with several other Dead End Kids in The Little Tough Guys series. Later the same year, Monogram featured him in
his first East Side Kids film, "Boys of the City".
In 1943, Bobby was drafted. He served
as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry until 1945 with his only film appearance being the East Side Kid's "Bowery Champs"
(1944), playing himself in a running gag.
In 1946, Bobby appeared in the first
Bowery Boys picture, "Live Wires". But, after eight episodes he left because he was forced to take a backseat to Leo Gorcey
and Huntz Hall. In March of that year, he married Lee, and in 1949, they had a son, Robert Jr.
Bobby worked sporadically in film and
television afterwards. He tried a nightclub act, then he found additional work as a bartender, door-to-door photograph salesperson
and he later worked as an oil driller in Coalinga.
In 1957, he and Lee divorced, and in
1958, he declared bankruptcy when he failed to pay alimony and child support.
On August 25, 1965, Bobby collapsed
at the home of a friend he had been living with. Already a heavy drinker, he was admitted to a Veterans Administration Hospital
in Los Angeles for treatment for Cirrhosis of the liver. Bobby died on Sept 10/1965, he was 42.
Of his former Dead End Kid and East
Side Kid, Leo Gorcey, once observed: "Bobby Jordan must not have had a guardian angel."
