Bernard Gorcey was born in Russia and later immigrated to the United States with his family, settling on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He attended The Educational Alliance, where he performed in the Children's Educational Theatre, and was mentored by Mark Twain, who introduced him to producers and impresarios on Broadway.
After his initial success, Bernard found himself without work as a character actor and was forced to join his family in Long Branch, New Jersey, where he partnered with his father to run a tailoring business for four years. He eventually returned to the Broadway stage in 1912, starring in several prominent roles produced by notable figures such as Arthur Hammerstein.
Bernard continued to enjoy successes on Broadway and toured around the country with his shows. He married Josephine Condon of Boston and had three sons, Fred, Leo, and David. In 1922, he enjoyed his greatest hit on Broadway in Abie's Irish Rose, a show that broke records, running some 2,327 performances.
In 1928, Bernard made his way to Hollywood, where he enjoyed his first screen success in the film adaptation of Abie's Irish Rose. However, Hollywood was slow to recognize his value, and he continued to work in Vaudeville, radio, and stage productions. He experimented with film, shooting several shorts with the Fleischer Brothers organization between 1931 and 1934.
It wasn't until 1940 that Bernard saw his breakthrough into major filmdom, taking a significant role in the Charles Chaplin film The Great Dictator. He relocated to Hollywood, finding sporadic work with major studios and stars, and developed his reputation as a unique character actor.
Bernard became associated with the efforts of his son Leo's film franchise, the Dead End Kids and later the East Side Kids, at Monogram Studios. He began his signature role as Louie, the Sweetshop owner, in the Bowery Boys series in 1943, joining his sons Leo and David to complete forty films in the series. He also made cameos in major studio pictures and appeared in television with Joan Davis in her I Married Joan series with Jim Backus.
Bernard Gorcey was the victim of a traffic accident in August 1955 and died at the age of 69 on September 11th of that year.
