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R.I.P. Tommy Kirk, star of Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, and the Hardy Boys of The Mickey Mouse Club
He was named a Disney Legend for his work in The Absent-Minded Professor, Swiss Family Robinson, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and more.
As it often happens with child stars, Tommy Kirk was discovered by accident. His older brother, Joe, wanted a part in a Pasadena Playhouse production of the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness! Tommy went to the audition as well and ended up with a role while his brother didn't. The play also featured Disney star Bobby Driscoll, who had already appeared in Treasure Island and voiced Peter Pan. The younger Kirk brother didn't know it at the time, but he was about to join the Disney ranks himself.
Tommy Kirk's stage performance was noticed by a Hollywood agent. Kirk was soon signed and working regularly on TV. He appeared in Gunsmoke and The Loretta Young Show before playing Joe Hardy, with fellow Disney actor and My Three Sons star Tim Considine as Frank Hardy, in Hardy Boys mysteries first seen as segments in The Mickey Mouse Club.
Kirk became an instant star two years after his start in television when he played Travis Coates in Old Yeller. His incredibly moving performance still resonates today as his most memorable role.
Kirk then became Disney's go-to actor for the next eight years. He was a teenager who becomes a sheepdog in The Shaggy Dog, he was shipwrecked with his family in Swiss Family Robinson and he had two run-ins with the zany, flying substance flubber in The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber.
He also starred in the vacation comedy Bon Voyage!, his fourth (out of five) times playing the brother of frequent Disney child actor Kevin Corcoran and also his fourth (and last) time starring alongside My Three Sons dad Fred MacMurray.
Kirk played college genius Merlin Jones in two movies opposite Annette Funicello, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Monkey's Uncle. In 1965, he starred in the cult comedy Village of the Giants with Ron Howard and Johnny Crawford, as seen on Svengoolie.
Though Kirk's Disney partnership ended abruptly after The Monkey's Uncle, he reconciled with the studio years later and was named a Disney Legend in 2006 for his numerous contributions.
Kirk said at the time, "I want to be remembered for my Disney work, like Swiss Family Robinson and Old Yeller." He even recalled a memorable moment with Walt Disney himself. "He was with Hedda Hopper, the legendary columnist. He put his arm around me, and he said, 'This is my good-luck piece here,' to Hedda Hopper. I never forgot that. That's the nicest compliment he ever gave me."
Tommy Kirk passed away this week. He was 79.
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God bless you Tommy, and may you rest in peace.
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Tommy Kirk
[when asked about his contract termination with Walt Disney] Yeah, I picked somebody up. It was just one of those crazy things that I didn't know what I was doing; I used to swim in the public pool in downtown Burbank, and during the summer of 1963 I met this teenager and one thing led to another and we had an affair. And then he talked ... he either told a friend or told his parents about me, because his parents went down to the studio one day and Disney was confronted with this. I was on the set when I was suddenly called into Mr. Disney's office and there was this kid, this 15-year-old kid I was involved with, along with his angry-looking parents, Mr. Disney and a few executives. The kid's mother just yelled at me and threatened me. After coming clean about everything, they [the parents] thankfully didn't press sodomy charges, but that was the end of my contract. They [the studio] did not renew me.
Tommy Kirk
I thought Jane Wyman was a hard, cold woman and I got to hate her by the time I was through with Bon Voyage! (1962). Of course, she didn't like me either, so I guess it came natural. I think she had some suspicion that I was gay and all I can say is that, if she didn't like me for that, she doesn't like a lot of people.
Tommy Kirk
In December 1964, I signed a contract for 'The Sons of Katie Elder' with John Wayne, but a week before shooting I went to a Hollywood party that the vice squad busted because of marijuana. I was handcuffed and photos of me got in the papers with headlines like 'Ex-Disney Child Star Arrested for Pot!' So Wayne and the producers fired me.
After I was fired from Disney, I did some of the worst movies ever made and I got professionally involved with a manager who said it didn't matter what you did as long as you kept working. I wound up completely broke. I spent all my money on drugs to get out of the emotional pain I was in. I had no self-discipline or self-control and I almost died of a drug overdose a couple of times. It's a miracle that I'm still around. Finally, I said to myself, "to hell with the whole thing, to hell with show business. I'm gonna make a new life for myself", and I got off drugs, completely kicked all that stuff.
Tommy Kirk
[on Fred MacMurray] I really liked him very much but the feeling wasn't mutual. That hurt me a lot and for a long time I hated him. It's hard not to hate somebody who doesn't like you. I was sort of looking for a father figure and I pushed him too hard. He resented it and I guess I was pretty repellent to him, so we didn't get along. We had a couple of blow ups on set ... He was a nice person, but I was just too demanding. I came on too strong because I desperately wanted to be his friend.
Tommy Kirk
This town [Hollywood] is full of right-wingers - the world is full of right-wingers - intolerant, cruel sons-of-bitches.
TCM aired "Catalina Caper" last Friday.
I have a couple of his films on DVD, I shoukd buy some more.
I think Svengoolie aired Village of the Giants, so maybe that will happen again.
