In 1935 Sidney Kingsley’s play about streetwise urban kids, Dead End, opened on Broadway featuring 14 adolescent actors. For two years on Broadway and then on tour, Kingsley’s play delivered its social commentary contrasting affluent neighborhoods and tenement slums on New York City’s East River. The film industry picked up the story and in 1937 released Dead End which spawned 23 more years of films and serials featuring the Dead End Kids and their offshoots, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.
This chronicle follows the street kids through the many assorted incarnations, shifting casts and studios. First the reader is introduced to how the original play and film came about. A cast list and analysis of each production follows. For the major players, the author provides a biography and filmography, and several of these entries include a tribute from a friend or family member. Brief biographical profiles are given for other actors. Sketches of the “Dead End” revivals of 1978 and 2005 follow.

Leonard Getz CPA, lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work has appeared in such magazines and newspapers as Lifestyles, Inside, Nostalgia Scrapbook, and Jewish Exponent. He was also an interviewer for Steven Spielberg’s Oral History Foundation.

Leonard Getz
Foreword by Leo Gorcey, Jr.
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 364
Bibliographic Info: 195 photos, notes, bibliography, filmographies, index
Copyright Date: 2010 [2006]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6092-2
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8742-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Foreword by Leo Gorcey, Jr.       1

Preface      3

The Dead End Kids      5

The Little Tough Guys      53

The East Side Kids      107

The Bowery Boys      173

Cast Biographies      283

Epilogue      343

Bibliography      349

Index      351

““jammed-packed with excellent, well-written cast biographies and good film-by-film commentary. I strongly suggest the very worthy From Broadway to the Bowery…done superbly by the author and the always reliable layout staff at McFarland. Photos are also excellent”—Classic Images; “you will not be disappointed”—The Slide Area; “highly recommended…excellent job”—Rogue Cinema; “cover is a knockout”—Filmfax.