The last of The Bowery Boys has passed on.
ba ba booie
The last of The Bowery Boys has passed on.
Bernard Punsly, Last of Broadway's "Dead End Kids," Dead at 80
Robert Simonson Playbill On-Line
Bernard Punsly, the last surviving member of the quintet of young
Broadway and Hollywood actors known as "The Dead End Kids," died in
Torrence, California, on Jan. 20, the New York Times reported. He was
80.
Mr. Punsley found his most lasting public identity at the age of 12,
when he was cast as Milton, one of the gang of streetwise slum kids at
the center of Sidney Kingsley's 1935 social drama Dead End. (Some
accounts have credited this play as his entrance into show business, but
Mr. Punsly made his Broadway debut in 1931's I Love an Actress.) The
play looked at the seething societal microcosm of one dirty Manhattan
cul-de-sac, where tenament dwellers live side by side with the
well-heeled residents of a newly erected high rise.
While critics praised the play and production, most reviews focused
their attention on the scrappy, wise-cracking Dead End Kids, who spent
much of the play pulling pranks and cannonballing into a pool of water
designed to represent the East River. The realistic effect thrilled
audiences.
When Dead End was made into a 1937 film, Hollywood called on Mr. Punsly
and his colleagues (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, Gabriel Dell
and Bobby Jordan) to repeat their performances. Few could have expected
that the movie would spur a decades-long phenomenon.
So popular were the Kids that they were cast, as "The Dead End Kids," in
further films, such as "Angels with Dirty Faces," (1938) with Jimmy
Cagney, "Angels Wash Their Faces" (1939) and "Hell's Kitchen" (1939),
with Ronald Reagan.
After starring in a group of serial flicks, the Kids evolved into the
East Side Kids and, eventually, The Bowery Boys, as the concept bounced
from studio to studio.
In Dead End, mop-haired, hangdog-faced Mr. Punsly was cast as Milton,
the new kid on the block and the most level-headed and well-meaning of
the boys. It may have been typecasting:
he ended his involvement with the Kids in 1943, when he left acting and
joined the Army. Following World War II, he fulfilled a lifelong
ambition by studying medicine and becoming a doctor. Mr. Punsly had a
successful private practice and was chief of staff at South Bay Hospital
in Redondo Beach.
By becoming a physician, he very likely escaped the fate of his "Dead
End" cohorts, whose adult lives were plagued by multiple marriages,
brushes with crime and alcoholism. In his later years, he claimed to
never watch any of his old films. He is survived by his wife and son.
bbb wrote:
I used to always watch this show when I was a kid. I always liked Satch.
He was always so goofy. Later in life a clone looked like him and he was
the guitar player from the band (the song dream police). I guess it is
good that I forgot that bands name.
Anybody remember The Bowery Boys (The Dead ennd Kids) TV show?
.
.
Have you checked these sites out today?
http://www.jambase.com
http://www.jambands.com
http://www.pauserecord.com
http://www.jambase.com/festivals
http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?day=today&dispall=1
.
Find out where your favorite band is playing.
http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewlist.cgi?ListID=682
SKNavis
>He was always so goofy. Later in life a clone looked like him and he was
>the guitar player from the band (the song dream police). I guess it is
>good that I forgot that bands name.
>
Cheap Trick. Yeah, Rick Neilsen does kind a look like Satch. I was never
really into those guys, but I like "Dream Police" and "Surrender."
>Anybody remember The Bowery Boys (The Dead End Kids) TV show?
Uh-huh. When I was a kid (late 70's, early 80's), a station here in Milwaukee
showed The Bowery Boys, Sgt. Preston, The Lone Ranger and Superman (the George
Reeves show), back-to-back-to back every Sunday morning. Looking back, all
those shows were kinda lame but they entertained me. It sure beat the idea of
going to church! For being made in the 50's, none of those shows were too bad
I guess. With the exception of the more recent (90's and today) animated
versions, no one else has gotten Superman right.
Peace,
Shaun
Jperdue4
i dont know, but i swear its larry king...
jonP
mrose101
depression....and Angels with Dirty faces......with Cagney ....the movie that made
me hate Pat O'brien for many many years....
SKNavis
>depression....and Angels with Dirty faces......with Cagney ....the movie that
>made
>me hate Pat O'brien for many many years....
I've heard good things about both of those movies. I should definitely check
those out. Los Lobos has a song called "Angels with Dirty Faces," FWIW.
Peace,
Shaun
SKNavis
>board,,why
>i dont know, but i swear its larry king...
New England by ten in the SuperBowl... For my money there's never been a
better actress than Pia Zadora, except for maybe Betty Rubble in her prime...
I love the smell of napalm in the morning... They just don't write songs like
"Having My Baby" anymore... It's a shame, but you find a decent pair of
suspenders anymore... Welfare mothers make better lovers... Where have you
gone, Earl Holliman?