The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys
Medium	Repertory theatre, film
Nationality	American
Genres	Farce, comedy
Former members	Leo Gorcey Huntz Hall Bobby Jordan Billy Benedict David Gorcey

The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958.

The Bowery Boys were successors of the "The East Side Kids," who had been the subject of films since 1940. The group originated as the "Dead End Kids", who originally appeared in the 1937 film Dead End. A few of the actors previously appeared together as "The Little Tough Guys."

"The Dead End Kids" originally appeared in the 1935 play Dead End, dramatized by Sidney Kingsley. When Samuel Goldwyn turned the play into a 1937 film, he recruited the original "kids" from the play—Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly—to appear in the same roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films that shared the collective title "The Dead End Kids".

In 1938, Universal launched its own tough-kid series, "Little Tough Guys." Gradually, Universal recruited most of the original Dead End Kids, so the series ultimately featured "The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys." Universal made twelve feature films, and three 12-chapter serials with the gang. The final film in Universal's series, Keep 'Em Slugging, was released in 1943, with Bobby Jordan replacing erstwhile ringleader Billy Halop.

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