Bobby Jordan
Though he was the youngest, Jordan was the first of the boys who made up the Dead End Kids to work in films with a role in a 1933 Universal short. In 1935, he became one of the original Dead End Kids by winning the role of Angel in Sydney Kingsley's Broadway drama Dead End about life in the slums of the east side of New York City. The play was performed at the Belasco Theatre and ran for three years with over 600 performances. He appeared for the first season and the beginning of the second but left in mid-November 1936. He returned in time to join the others in 1937 in Hollywood, California to make the movie version of the play, starring big names such as Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea, Sylvia Sidney, and Claire Trevor.
Following the making of Dead End, Jordan found himself "released" from his contract at Goldwyn, and, subsequently, he appeared at Warner Brothers with the rest of the Dead End Kids. After one year, Warners released most of them, but kept Leo Gorcey and Jordan as solo performers. Jordan appeared (as "Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom") in Warner's Damon Runyon comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Young Tom Edison (1940).
In 1940, Jordan appeared in the film Military Academy and accepted an offer from producer Sam Katzman to star in a new tough-kid series called "The East Side Kids." Leo Gorcey soon joined him, then Huntz Hall, and the trio continued to lead the series through 1943, when Jordan entered the United States Army during World War II as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry Division. He was subsequently involved in an elevator accident, when the elevator fell five floors, that forced him to have surgery to remove his right kneecap.
Acted in
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as Danny (archive footage)
The Odd Couple
1970
as Doris Atkins
Route 66
1960
as Garage Attendant (uncredited)
Bonanza
1959
as Thug #2
Rawhide
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1958
as Auto Mechanic (uncredited)
Casey Jones
1957
as Billy Mapes
Maverick
1957
as Willy
Maverick
1957
as Bank Teller (uncredited)
M Squad
1957
as Car Lot Employee
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
as Connie Thorpe
The Man Is Armed
1956
as Thorne (as Bob Jordan)
High Tor
1956
as 3rd Sailor
The Matchmaking Marshal
1955
as Steven 'Steve' Manson
The Millionaire
1955
as Press Agent
The Eddie Cantor Story
1953
as Customer
Secret of Outlaw Flats
1953
as Sandy Smith
Dragnet
1951
The Adventures of Boston Blackie
1951
as Waiter (uncredited)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Boy at Piano
Treasure of Monte Cristo
1949
as Tony Torecelli
Bowery Buckaroos
1947
as Bobby
News Hounds
1947
as Bobby
Hard Boiled Mahoney
1947
as Bobby
The Beginning or the End
1947
as Radioman on Tinian Receiving A-Bomb Message
Mr. Hex
1946
as Bobby
Spook Busters
1946
as Bobby
Bowery Bombshell
1946
as Bobby
In Fast Company
1946
as Bobby
Live Wires
1946
as Bobby
Bowery Champs
1944
as Bobby Jordan
Adventures of the Flying Cadets
1943
as Jinx Roberts
Destroyer
1943
as Sobbing Sailor
Ghosts on the Loose
1943
as Danny
Clancy Street Boys
1943
as Danny
Keep 'Em Slugging
1943
as Tommy
Kid Dynamite
1943
as Danny Lions
Junior Army
1942
as Jockey
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
1942
as Danny Lyons
Smart Alecks
1942
as Danny Stevens
Let's Get Tough
1942
as Danny Connors
Mr. Wise Guy
1942
as Danny Collins
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
1942
as Self
Spooks Run Wild
1941
as Danny
Bowery Blitzkrieg
1941
as Danny Breslin
Flying Wild
1941
as Danny Graham
Give Us Wings
1940
as Rap
Pride of the Bowery
1940
as Danny
That Gang of Mine
1940
as Danny Dolan
Military Academy
1940
as Dick Hill
You're Not So Tough
1940
as Rap
Boys of the City
1940
as Danny Dolan
Young Tom Edison
1940
as Joe 'Joey' Dingle
On Dress Parade
1939
as Cadet Ronny Morgan
Dust Be My Destiny
1939
as Jimmy Glenn
Angels Wash Their Faces
1939
as Bernie Smith
Hell's Kitchen
1939
as Joel "Joey" Richards
They Made Me a Criminal
1939
as Angel
Off the Record
1939
as Mickey Fallon
Swingtime in the Movies
1938
as Crime School Kid (uncredited)
Angels with Dirty Faces
1938
as Swing
My Bill
1938
as Reginald Colbrook
Reformatory
1938
as Pinkey Leonard
Crime School
1938
as Lester 'Squirt' Smith
A Slight Case of Murder
1938
as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom
Dead End
1937
as Angel
Kid Millions
1934
as Tourist (uncredited)