Bobby Jordan(1923-1965)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
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 Warner Bros./Vitaphone in 1931. He also
reportedly had 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 The Samuel Goldwyn Company 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 films 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.