Bobby Jordan
Born: 1923-04-01 in Harrison, New York, USA
Died: 1965-09-10
Known For: Acting
Biography
Though he was the youngest, Jordan was the first of the boys who made up the Dead End Kids to work in films with a role in a 1933 Universal short. In 1935, he became one of the original Dead End Kids by winning the role of Angel in Sydney Kingsley's Broadway drama Dead End about life in the slums of the east side of New York City. The play was performed at the Belasco Theatre and ran for three years with over 600 performances. He appeared for the first season and the beginning of the second but left in mid-November 1936. He returned in time to join the others in 1937 in Hollywood, California to make the movie version of the play, starring big names such as Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea, Sylvia Sidney, and Claire Trevor. Following the making of Dead End, Jordan found himself "released" from his contract at Goldwyn, and, subsequently, he appeared at Warner Brothers with the rest of the Dead End Kids. After one year, Warners released most of them, but kept Leo Gorcey and Jordan as solo performers. Jordan appeared (as "Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom") in Warner's Damon Runyon comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Young Tom Edison (1940). In 1940, Jordan appeared in the film Military Academy and accepted an offer from producer Sam Katzman to star in a new tough-kid series called "The East Side Kids." Leo Gorcey soon joined him, then Huntz Hall, and the trio continued to lead the series through 1943, when Jordan entered the United States Army during World War II as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry Division. He was subsequently involved in an elevator accident, when the elevator fell five floors, that forced him to have surgery to remove his right kneecap.
Filmography
1991
- Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Danny (archive footage)
1986
- Classic Comedy Teams as The East Side Kids (archive footage)
1970
- The Odd Couple as Doris Atkins
1960
- Route 66 as Garage Attendant (uncredited)
1958
- 77 Sunset Strip as Auto Mechanic (uncredited)
1957
- Maverick as Willy
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Connie Thorpe
- M Squad as Car Lot Employee
- Casey Jones as Billy Mapes
1956
- The Man Is Armed as Thorne (as Bob Jordan)
- High Tor as 3rd Sailor
1955
- Highway Patrol as Ed
- The Millionaire as Press Agent
- The Matchmaking Marshal as Steven 'Steve' Manson
1953
- Secret of Outlaw Flats as Sandy Smith
- The Eddie Cantor Story as Customer
1951
- Dragnet
- The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
- Boston Blackie as Waiter (uncredited)
1950
- Lux Video Theatre as Boy at Piano
1949
- Treasure of Monte Cristo as Tony Torecelli
1947
- Bowery Buckaroos as Bobby
- The Beginning or the End as Radioman on Tinian Receiving A-Bomb Message
- News Hounds as Bobby
- Hard Boiled Mahoney as Bobby
1946
- Spook Busters as Bobby
- Mr. Hex as Bobby
- Live Wires as Bobby
- Bowery Bombshell as Bobby
- In Fast Company as Bobby
1944
- Bowery Champs as Bobby Jordan
1943
- Destroyer as Sobbing Sailor
- Kid Dynamite as Danny Lions
- Adventures of the Flying Cadets as Jinx Roberts
- Keep 'Em Slugging as Tommy
- Clancy Street Boys as Danny
- Ghosts on the Loose as Danny
1942
- Smart Alecks as Danny Stevens
- 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge as Danny Lyons
- Let's Get Tough as Danny Connors
- Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4 as Self
- Mr. Wise Guy as Danny Collins
- Junior Army as Jockey
1941
- Flying Wild as Danny Graham
- Bowery Blitzkrieg as Danny Breslin
- Spooks Run Wild as Danny
1940
- Military Academy as Dick Hill
- Give Us Wings as Rap
- Young Tom Edison as Joe 'Joey' Dingle
- Boys of the City as Danny Dolan
- Pride of the Bowery as Danny
- That Gang of Mine as Danny Dolan
- You're Not So Tough as Rap
1939
- Angels Wash Their Faces as Bernie Smith
- Off the Record as Mickey Fallon
- Dust Be My Destiny as Jimmy Glenn
- Hell's Kitchen as Joel "Joey" Richards
- On Dress Parade as Cadet Ronny Morgan
- They Made Me a Criminal as Angel
1938
- My Bill as Reginald Colbrook
- Reformatory as Pinkey Leonard
- Crime School as Lester 'Squirt' Smith
- Angels with Dirty Faces as Swing
- A Slight Case of Murder as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom
- Swingtime in the Movies as Crime School Kid (uncredited)
1937
- Dead End as Angel
1934
- Kid Millions as Tourist (uncredited)