Product Code Database
Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 − September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as well as the beach party films of the mid-1960s. He frequently appeared as a love interest for Annette Funicello or as part of a family with Kevin Corcoran as his younger brother and Fred MacMurray as his father.
Kirk's career with Disney ended when news of his homosexuality threatened to become public. He struggled with drug addiction and depression for several years, appearing in a series of low-budget films before leaving the acting business in the mid-1970s. Kirk opened a carpet cleaning business and lived a mostly ordinary life, occasionally appearing at fan conventions. He died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 2021, aged 79.
In 1954, Kirk accompanied his elder brother Joe to an audition for a production of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. "Joe was star struck," said Kirk. Joe was not cast, losing out to Bobby Driscoll, but Tommy was, and he made his stage debut opposite Will Rogers Jr."Will Rogers, Jr. Makes Auspicious Stage Debut". Los Angeles Times. August 21, 1954: 13. "It was five lines, it didn't pay anything, and nobody else showed up, so I got the part," recalled Kirk.
The performance was seen by an agent from the Gertz agency, who signed Kirk and succeeded in casting him in an episode of TV Reader's Digest, "The Last of the Old Time Shooting Sheriffs", directed by William Beaudine. Kirk's brother went on to become a dentist.
Another version of the beginning of Kirk's career was provided by producer John Stephens in the latter's memoirs. Stephens says he had an office at American National while working as a casting director and "this little kid used to stand outside my office". He says the child's father told Stephens his son wanted to be an actor but had not done anything and did not have an agent. Stephens invited Kirk and his father in to read a scene and Kirk was "brilliant". Stephens recommended Kirk to director John Peyser, who was looking for a child actor and Kirk got the part. Kirk was in demand almost immediately.
In August 1956, Disney hired him and the former Mouseketeer Judy Harriet to attend both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions, for newsreel specials that later appeared on the show. Kirk also hosted short travelogues for the serial segment of the show's second season, sometimes with Annette Funicello. He did the voice-over narration for "The Eagle Hunters" and dubbing work for the Danish-made film Vesterhavsdrenge, shown on the Mickey Mouse Club as the serial "Boys of the Western Sea". Around this time, it was announced that Kirk would appear as Young Davy Crockett, but this did not happen.
Kirk's career received its biggest break yet when, in January 1957, Disney cast him as Travis Coates in Old Yeller (1957), an adventure story about a boy and his heroic dog. Kirk had the lead role in the film, a success at the box-office, and he became Disney's first choice whenever they needed someone to play an all-American teenager. Kevin Corcoran played his younger brother and the two of them were often cast as brothers. Later that year, Kirk and Corcoran were announced for the cast of The Rainbow Road to Oz, a feature film based on the stories of L. Frank Baum, but this film was never produced."Movie Producers Crashing Broadway". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. September 3, 1957. p. B8.
In July 1958, Kirk was cast in The Shaggy Dog (1959), a comedy about a boy inventor, who under the influence of a magic ring, is repeatedly transformed into an Old English Sheepdog.Scheuer, Philip K. (July 30, 1958). "'Shaggy Dog' Cast Will Kid Monsters: Jean Hagen Completes Roster; New Film Faster, Less Distorted". Los Angeles Times. p. A9. This teamed him with Corcoran and Considine, and two other Disney stars with whom he regularly worked, Fred MacMurray and Annette Funicello. According to Diabolique, "Much of the credit went to MacMurray; a lot of the credit should have gone to Kirk, whose easy-going boy next door charm made him the ideal American teen." Kirk said that when filming finished, Disney told him they did not have any projects for him and his contract would not be renewed. "I was thin and gangly and looked a mess ... I thought the whole world had fallen to pieces," he said. (At the same time, Film Daily called Kirk one of its five "male juveniles" of the year, the others being Tim Considine, Ricky Nelson, Eddie Hodges, and James MacArthur.)Stewart, Hepburn; Scheuer, Philip K (December 28, 1959). "Top poll of Critics: Welch, Peggy Cass also rate; Millie Perkins Is No. 1 find". Los Angeles Times. p. C9.
With his Disney contract completed, Kirk went to Universal Pictures, where he played the male lead in the English dub of a Soviet animated feature, The Snow Queen, opposite Sandra Dee.
Shaggy Dog turned out to be a hit, gaining significantly larger rentals than Old Yeller, and Disney soon contacted Kirk, offering him another long-term contract and a role as middle son Ernst Robinson in another adventure film, Swiss Family Robinson (1960), starring John Mills, Janet Munro, and once again Dorothy McGuire as his onscreen mother and Corcoran. It remained Kirk's favorite movie.Minton p 69 When he returned from filming in the West Indies, the studio signed him to two more movies.Scheuer, Philip K. (January 25, 1960). "Hersey 'War Lover' Sold to Columbia: Directors Picks Annual Critic; U.S. Steel Sponsors a Winner". Los Angeles Times. p. C9.
Kirk followed up with a secondary role in a fantasy comedy starring Fred MacMurray, The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), another huge hit.Scheuer, Philip K.,"Realist Disney Kept His Dreams: Walt Disney Held His Dreams", Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1960: F1. Disney sent Kirk to England for The Horsemasters (1961), a youth-oriented horse riding film, which was made for U.S. television, but screened theatrically in some markets. He appeared once more with Munro and Funicello. That same year, Kirk played the support role of Grumio in the fairy tale fantasy Babes in Toyland, supporting Funicello, Ray Bolger, Ed Wynn and Tommy Sands. Kirk later described this film as "sort of a clunker ... but it has a few cute moments, it's an oddity", and enjoyed working with Ed Wynn.Minton p 70 It was a box-office disappointment; so too was Moon Pilot (1962), a satirical comedy where Kirk played the younger brother of Tom Tryon.John C. Waugh, John C. (March 14, 1961). "A Legendary Tale Spinner Looks Ahead -- British TV adjusts a balance: Disney boosting live-action films". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 6.
Kirk acted in a family comedy with MacMurray, Bon Voyage (1962), with other family members played by Jane Wyman, Deborah Walley, and Corcoran. On set, Kirk did not get along with his onscreen parents. He later admitted that his own neediness made him view MacMurray as a surrogate father, a role MacMurray had no wish to fulfill.Minton p 71 Kirk also had trouble with Jane Wyman, saying: "She was very mean to me. She went out of her way to be shitty ... but she was a total bitch and I think she was homophobic."' Kirk maintained better relationships with his onscreen brothers Kevin Corcoran and Tim Considine, who called Kirk "a monster talent".
Kirk starred with Funicello in another overseas-shot story which screened in the United States on TV, but was released in some countries theatrically: Escapade in Florence (1962). Newspaper columns occasionally linked Kirk and Funicello's names romantically,"Soraya Is Denying Marriage Plans". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. November 6, 1963. p. D14. though in fact, they were never anything more than friendly coworkers.
In July 1962, Disney announced they would make The Happiest American with Kirk, but it was not made.Hopper, Hedda (July 2, 1962). "Art Linkletter off to Russia, hopes he won't encounter complications of last trip". Los Angeles Times. p. C10. Instead, he did a sequel to Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber (1963), his last film with MacMurray.
In 1963, Kirk reprised his role as Travis Coates in Disney's Savage Sam (1963), a sequel to Old Yeller, which reunited him with Corcoran and co-starred Brian Keith; it was not as well received as Old Yeller.
Disney then cast Kirk as student inventor Merlin Jones in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), again opposite Funicello. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson, who was frequently assigned Disney comedies. It became an unexpected box-office sensation, earning $4 million in rentals in North America, and Disney invited Funicello and him back to make a sequel, The Monkey's Uncle (1965). The Monkey's Uncle came out in July 1965 and was almost as successful as Merlin Jones.Scheuer, Philip K. (January 4, 1965). "Disney Announces Diverse Schedule: Doris Day Winner (Again); Ill Wind a Boon to Actors". Los Angeles Times. p. B7.
Kirk supported Angie Dickinson in a short feature called Down Liberty Road, a.k.a. Freedom Highway (1956), a short commercial travelogue produced by Greyhound Lines to promote their Scenicruiser buses.
Concurrent with his film career at Disney, Kirk continued to guest star on television series, such as The O. Henry Playhouse ("Christmas by Injunction"), The Californians (as Billy Kilgore in "Little Lost Man"), Matinee Theatre ("Look Out for John Tucker"), Playhouse 90 ("A Corner of the Garden"), The Millionaire ('Millionaire Charles Bradwell") (1959) Bachelor Father ("A Key for Kelly"), Mr. Novak, "Love in the Wrong Season" (1963), Angel ("Goodbye Young Lovers"), and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ("Ten Minutes from Now") (1964).
AIP then cast him in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) with Deborah Walley. Soon after, he and Walley were put in It's a Bikini World, filmed in late 1965 under the direction of Stephanie Rothman. It was not released until 1967.Martin, Betty (October 20, 1965). "Wolper to film war novel". Los Angeles Times. p. D15. Also for AIP, he appeared in a TV special, The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot (1965), made to promote Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which aired in November 1965. In December, he announced he would make three more films for Exclusive, starting with Teacher, Teacher, alongside Bob Denver and Dawn Wells but the film would not be made.Martin, Betty (December 18, 1965). "Franciosa set for Swinger". Los Angeles Times. p. A12.
Following his work for AIP, Kirk spent the remainder of the 1960s making various low-budget films, including Village of the Giants (1965) for Bert I. Gordon; The Unkissed Bride (1966) for Jack H. Harris; Track of ThunderMinton p 68 and Catalina Caper in 1967 Martin, Betty (August 18, 1965). "Shaw rejoins film colony". Los Angeles Times . p. D10.; and two films for Texan director Larry Buchanan: Mars Needs Women (1968) and It's Alive! (1969). Kirk got along well with Buchanan and the two would often spend time together off-set.
Kirk said he reached bottom in 1970 when he did two movies that were not Screen Actors Guild, Ride the Hot Wind and Blood of Ghastly Horror, causing him to almost lose his SAG card. "Finally, I said, 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." In the 1970s, he was in a 1973 episode of The Streets of San Francisco and then starred in low-budget western My Name Is Legend (1975). While filming My Name is Legend, Kirk was thrown from a horse and injured.
Later in his career, Kirk returned to his home state of Kentucky and performed in musical theatre, including Guys and Dolls, Hello, Dolly! (as Horace Vandergelder), Anything Goes (as Moonface Martin), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (as Marcus Lycus), and Little Mary Sunshine (as General Fairfax).
Were growing aware. They weren’t stupid; they could add two and two, and I think they were beginning to suspect. I noticed people in certain quarters were getting less and less friendly. You know, you can tell. To complicate the thing, I was messing around with drugs and drinking. I wasn’t disciplined; I was kind of a wild Irish person and nobody could tell me what to do. I lived my life exactly as I pleased; I tried to keep my private life private, but I was messing around and I was drinking a lot and going around to wild parties and carrying on, you know 一 and this is all contrary to the Disney image."While filming The Misadventures of Merlin Jones in 1963, 21-year-old Kirk began a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, and was caught having sex with him at a swimming pool in Burbank. The boy's mother informed Disney, who elected not to renew Kirk's contract. Walt Disney personally fired Kirk, but when Merlin Jones became an unexpected hit, Disney allowed him to return long enough to film a sequel, The Monkey's Uncle.
Kirk publicly came out as gay in a 1974 interview with John Marvin.Marvin, J. (1974). Thomas Kirk: A Disney Darling Grows Up. Quorum, 2(5), 20-25. At the time he was studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, while working as a busboy in a Los Angeles restaurant.
In 2017, while being interviewed for an online talk radio show, Kirk said that he regarded himself as bisexual. "I have had relations with women too. I am not just gay, I am—I happen to be both, I would say. Like many people."
I was drinking from the time I was 14. I always liked it. I started messing with drugs in the last couple of years at Disney—around '62. I'd get so tired, and somebody gave me some amphetamines, and they made me feel good and gave me energy, and I got addicted. There were a lot of people mixing them with alcohol. I very nearly died of an overdose a couple of times in 1966. I got off drugs absolutely by 1968, but I continued to drink. During that part of the 60s, I was pretty messed up and I wasn't employable; I wasn't fit for work. I wouldn't go for treatment and nobody could tell me what to do; I just wrecked everything in my life. Thank God I didn't do anything that I look back on with horror...I didn't kill anybody in a car accident or kill myself, though I very nearly did, drinking and driving.... I fell asleep at the wheel on the Ventura Freeway one night about 1967, and drove diagonally across the Freeway. Just missed getting creamed by a truck... It was mainly pills. Speed, uppers, diet pills—and I got thin as a rake, and I was high all the time. It was a terrible period in my life.Valley p 66
Kirk got over his drug addiction and gave up acting in the mid-1970s. He worked as a waiter and a chauffeur before going into the carpet-cleaning business in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, an operation which he ran for 20 years.
In 1990, Kirk said he was "poor", but had "No bitterness. No regrets." He wrote an unproduced script about Abraham Lincoln and continued to act occasionally, including small roles in Streets of Death (1988) and Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (1995). He also enjoyed writing and occasionally appearing at retro film conventions. He had maintained a lifelong friendship with his Old Yeller co-star Beverly Washburn, since re-meeting at a convention in 1994. He lived a private life and did not believe in "exhibiting" himself, preferring to keep away from the public eye.
In 1993 Kirk said "I’ve quit drugs. I don't use anything at all. I don’t smoke; I don’t drink; I don't use drugs. I eat a very healthy diet, and I feel pretty good. I enjoy my work and I am a Christian. I’ve found Christianity to be a huge and tremendous help in getting the poison out of my system, purging myself of resentments and bitterness."Valley p 69 Kirk was inducted as a Disney Legend on October 9, 2006, alongside his former co-stars Tim Considine and Kevin Corcoran. His other repeat co-stars, Annette Funicello and Fred MacMurray, had already been inducted in 1992 and 1987, respectively. Also in 2006, the first of Kirk's Hardy Boys serials was issued on DVD in the fifth "wave" of the Walt Disney Treasures series. At that point, he was retired with "a nice pension" and living in Redding, California.
| + !Year !Title !Role !Notes | |||
| 1956 | The Peacemaker | Tommy | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Down Liberty Road | Short | |
| 1957 | Old Yeller | Travis Coates | |
| 1957 | The Snow Queen | Kay | Voice; 1959 English dubbed version |
| 1959 | The Shaggy Dog | Wilbur "Wilby" Daniels | |
| 1960 | Swiss Family Robinson | Ernst Robinson | |
| 1961 | The Absent-Minded Professor | Biff Hawk | |
| 1961 | Babes in Toyland | Grumio | |
| 1961 | The Horsemasters | Danny Grant | TV Series |
| 1962 | Moon Pilot | Walter Talbot | |
| 1962 | Escapade in Florence | Tommy Carpenter | TV Series |
| 1962 | Bon Voyage! | Elliott Willard | |
| 1963 | Son of Flubber | Biff Hawk | |
| 1963 | Savage Sam | Travis Coates | |
| 1964 | The Misadventures of Merlin Jones | Merlin Jones | |
| 1964 | Pajama Party | Go Go The Martian | |
| 1965 | The Monkey's Uncle | Merlin Jones | Last Disney appearance |
| 1965 | Village of the Giants | Mike | |
| 1966 | The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | Chuck Philips | |
| 1966 | The Unkissed Bride | Ted | |
| 1967 | It's a Bikini World | Mike Samson / Herbert Samson | |
| 1967 | Catalina Caper | Don Pringle | |
| 1967 | Track of Thunder | Bobby Goodwin | |
| 1968 | Mars Needs Women | Dop / Martian Fellow No. 1 / Mr. Fast / Seattle Sun Reporter | TV Movie |
| 1969 | It's Alive! | Wayne Thomas | TV Movie |
| 1971 | Blood of Ghastly Horror | Sergeant Cross | |
| 1973 | Ride the Hot Wind | Captain Gregory Shank | |
| 1975 | My Name Is Legend | ||
| 1988 | Streets of Death | Frank Philips | |
| 1995 | Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold | Passenger | |
| 1998 | Little Miss Magic | Mr. Kenner | |
| 1998 | Billy Frankenstein | Blind Monk | |
| 2000 | Club Dead | Private Detective | |
| 2001 | The Education of a Vampire | Albert Kornfield |
|
|
