Hollywood's Made-to-Order Punks: The Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys

by Richard Roat

Written by one who knew them Meet and become friends with many of the actors from the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys! Since he began collecting Movie Memorabilia on the Dead End Kids in 1964, author Richard Roat has had the great fortune to develop personal relationships with David Gorcey, Stanley Clements, Gabe Dell, Bernard Punsly, Huntz Hall, Billy Benedict, Frankie Thomas, Eddie Le Roy, Brandy Gorcey (daughter of Leo Gorcey), Gary Hall (son of Huntz Hall), and Leo Gorcey Jr. (son of Leo Gorcey). This book draws upon those acquaintances and his talking with Billy Halop, Bennie Bartlett, Johnny Duncan, Ward Wood, Dick Chandlee, Eugene Francis, Harris Berger, Charles Peck, Ronald Sinclair, and more! Lavished with many photos from the films from the author's personal collection, this is one book you'll need to have in your collection, tough guy!

244 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Penny Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of BearManor Media's better books since the often have editing errors, typos, etc. Roat does a great job of explaining who the Dead End Kids were and how they inspired other movies, especially the Bowery Boys "B" pictures. Nice biogs of the main teen actors who originally appeared on Broadway in "Dead End" and the film version and sequels. Lots of great b&w photos, too.