Tommy Kirk Biography – Tommy Kirk Wiki
Tommy Kirk was an American actor, majorly known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as well as the beach-party films of the mid-1960s. He was in “Deadline”, a 1973 episode of The Streets of San Francisco (1973), and a feature, the low-budget western My Name is Legend (1975).
He began his career with several television shows including the Mickey Mouse Club’s serialized adventure “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure” and “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm,” which aired in 1956-1957. His big break came when he starred as Travis Coates in the 1957 film “Old Yeller,” a story about a teenage boy and his heroic yellow dog.
In “The Shaggy Dog,” Kirk portrayed a teenage boy who was cursed with occasionally turning into a sheepdog. He played the middle son alongside James MacArthur and Kevin Corcoran — who played his brothers — in the 1960 film “Swiss Family Robinson.”
Kirk played in a slew of other films in the 1960s including “The Absent-Minded Professor” and its sequel “Son of Flubber.” He also starred in “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.”
In 1973, Kirk publicly came out as gay during an interview. The actor opened up 20 years later that he realized he was gay at age 17 or 18 and that his career was destroyed by his sexual orientation.
Kirk made some appearances in the 1990s and 2000s in films such as “Billy Frankenstein” and “The Education of a Vampire,” his final film.
Tommy Kirk Age
He was born on December 10, 1941, in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, and died on September 28, 2021, aged 79.
Tommy Kirk Partner
His friend Petersen said Kirk lived a private life as a gay man and was estranged from what “remains of his blood family.” In 1973, he publicly came out as gay during an interview with Marvin Jones. 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. The actor opened up 20 years later that he realized he was gay at age 17 or 18 and that his career was destroyed by his sexual orientation. Kirk said he knew he was gay from an early age.
“I consider my teenaged years as being desperately unhappy. I knew I was gay, but I had no outlet for my feelings. It was very hard to meet people and, at that time, there was no place to go to socialize. It wasn’t until the early ’60s that I began to hear of places where gays congregated. The lifestyle was not recognized and I was very, very lonely. Oh, I had some brief, very passionate encounters and as a teenager, I had some affairs, but they were always stolen, back alley kind of things. They were desperate and miserable. When I was about 17 or 18 years old, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t going to change. I didn’t know what the consequences would be, but I had the definite feeling that it was going to wreck my Disney career and maybe my whole acting career. It was all going to come to an end.”
While filming The Misadventures of Merlin Jones in 1963, he began seeing a 15-year-old boy he had met at a local swimming pool in Burbank. The boy’s mother discovered the affair and informed Disney, who elected not to renew Kirk’s contract. Kirk was 21 years old. Walt Disney personally fired him. Kirk describes the situation himself: “Even more than MGM, Disney was the most conservative studio in town…. The studio executives were beginning to suspect my homosexuality. Certain people were growing less and less friendly. In 1963, Disney let me go. But Walt asked me to return for the final Merlin Jones movie, The Monkey’s Uncle because the Jones films had been moneymakers for the studio.”
Tommy Kirk Family
He was the son of Louis Kirk and Lucy Kirk. He was one of four sons and one of his siblings is Joe Kirk. His father, Louis, was a mechanic who worked for the highway department while his mother, Lucy, was a legal secretary. Looking for better job opportunities, they moved to Downey in Los Angeles County, California, when Kirk was 15 months old.
Tommy Kirk Death
Kirk died at his Las Vegas, Nevada, home on September 28, 2021, at the age of 79. According to NBC News, his friend and former child star, Paul Petersen, said he was found dead in his Las Vegas home on Tuesday. The cause of death has not been released. Petersen said Kirk lived a private life as a gay man and was estranged from what “remains of his blood family.”
“He was very much a part of our kid star community,” Peterson said. “He made some wonderful films back in the day. We saw and enjoyed them. He was respected in his church. He lived a quiet, but full life.”
Tommy Kirk Cause of Death
The cause of death has not been released. He died at his Las Vegas, Nevada, home on September 28, 2021, at the age of 79.
