Bernard Gorcey (bornBaruch Ugorsky; 9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was an American actor. He began inVaudeville, performed onBroadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski inMonogram Pictures'The Bowery Boys series ofB movies, which starred his sonsLeo Gorcey andDavid Gorcey. He also appeared inCharlie Chaplin's 1940 classicThe Great Dictator.

Gorcey was born Baruch Ugorsky in Kovno, Russian Empire (nowKaunas,Lithuania), the son of Abraham and Leah Ugorsky. His father, a tailor, immigrated to New York in March 1888; three years later, the rest of the family followed when Bernard was 5.^[2] The family moved toLong Branch, New Jersey in the 1900s and changed the surname to Gorcey.^[3] His mother died in 1915.^[4]

Early in his career, Gorcey found success incomedy roles. Between 1907 and 1937 he played in several stage productions, includingTom Jones (1912),What Ails You? (1918),Somebody's Sweetheart (1920) (as "A Mysterious Conspirator"),Always You (1922) (as "Isaac Cohen"),Abie's Irish Rose (1923),Wildflower (1925) (as "Gaston La Roche"),Song of the Flame (1925) (as “Count Boris”),Cherry Blossoms (1930) (as "George Washington Goto"),Pressing Business (1931),Joy of Living (1931),Wonder Boy (1932) (as "Commodore Cohen"),Keeping Expenses Down (1935) (as "Kent J. Goldstein"),Creeping Fire (1935) (as "Mr. Goodman"), andSatellite (1937) (as "Max Goldblatz").^{[citation needed]}

The most successful show of Gorcey’s theatrical career wasAbie's Irish Rose.^[5]

He also performed someradio work for thePopeye Show. At 42 years old, he began working in movies. From 1928 until 1955, he appeared in 67 movies, with minor roles with bothMonogram andWarner Bros.^[6]

Forty-four of these were with sonsLeo andDavid inThe East Side Kids andThe Bowery Boys film series. Between 1946 and 1955, there were between four and five Bowery Boys movies annually, with Bernard playing the role of Louie Dumbrowski, the owner of a sweet shop where the Bowery Boys would hang out, usually getting free sodas while planning their next escapade, much to Dumbrowski's displeasure. He also appeared asCharlie Chaplin's meek Jewish neighbor Mr. Mann in the film classicThe Great Dictator (1940).

In 1914, Gorcey married Josephine Condon (1897-1975), from Wales, and had three sons, Fred, Leo, and David, and a daughter, Audrey.^[7][8]

On 31 August 1955, he crashed his car into a bus on 4th andLa Brea Avenue inLos Angeles. He died from his injuries on 11 September.^[9]

• Bernard Gorcey atIMDb
• Bernard Gorcey atFind a Grave

• 1886 births
• 1955 deaths
• Actors from Kaunas
• Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
• Jewish American male actors
• Lithuanian Jews
• American male radio actors
• American male film actors
• American vaudeville performers
• Road incident deaths in California

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