day studying a dictionary: "He has made something of a career for himself as an actor by the use of words no one else has ever heard of, and by the misuse or mispronunciation of others." In 1944, Gorcey took a recurring role on the Pabst Blue Ribbon Town radio show, starring Groucho Marx. He also had a small role in a 1948 film, the comedy So This Is New York, starring radio comedians Henry Morgan and Arnold Stang, which was Gorcey's last appearance as a straight character actor. In 1945 Sam Katzman, producer of the East Side Kids series, flatly refused to meet Gorcey's demand of double his usual salary. Gorcey walked out on Katzman, and Katzman discontinued the series. Gorcey turned to Dead End teammate Bobby Jordan, who suggested a meeting with Jordan's agent, Jan Grippo. The series became The Bowery Boys, with Gorcey holding a 40% financial share, and Grippo as producer. Gorcey brought aboard his father, Bernard Gorcey, to appear as Louie Dumbrowski, the panicky owner of a sweet shop where the boys gathered. Leo recruited his brother David to play one of the gang members. The series was immediately successful, and Gorcey starred in four Bowery Boys films per year through 1955. That year, his father died as a result of injuries from an automobile accident. Gorcey, devastated, began abusing alcohol and lost a great deal of weight. When he trashed a film set in an intoxicated rage, the studio refused to grant him a pay raise that he had demanded, so he parted ways with the Bowery Boys and was replaced in the last seven films by Stanley Clements. However, Gorcey's brother David remained with the series until it ended in late 1957. During the 1960s, Gorcey did very little acting. He had a bit part in the 1963 comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and he appeared with old sidekick Huntz Hall in a pair of low-budget films, Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar in 1966 and The Phynx in 1970. Gorcey also made an appearance in a television commercial for a 1969 Pontiac model. Autobiography In 1967 Gorcey self-published an autobiography, An Original Dead End Kid Presents: Dead End Yells, Wedding Bells, Cockle Shells, and Dizzy Spells, which was limited to 1,000 copies. It was reprinted in 2004. Personal life In May 1939, Gorcey married 15-year-old dancer Kay Marvis, who