Shooting the Breeze with Baby Boomer Stars!
Surprising Celebrity Conversations for the Retro Generation
by
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Tommy Kirk
Born: December 10, 1941
In my opinion Tommy Kirk was one of the most underrated teen actors of the Baby Boomer Generation. Up front I can also tell you that this was the one of the hardest interviews to prepare for and accomplish. First of all, Tommy Kirk, who today resides in Las Vegas, was not easy to find. He has no agent and his number is unlisted. Another interviewee from this book helped me make the contact. When calling on his private line I was somewhat conflicted from the beginning, and there was a slight nervous tremor to my voice as we spoke. He agreed to an interview after I did a song and dance act. I was not sure what to ask of his life both in and out of show business. For the basic details you can go to his biography on his IMDB page. I knew I would be walking on eggs during this interview and not sure how far I could go into his personal life. During the interview he told me more than a few times that he is a private person. But somehow, I felt he was willing to open up and spill some of his guts out. There were a few awkward pauses on his part during the questioning, but in the end, he complemented me on my interviewing skills. He said that he enjoyed talking with me and he sounded sincere as we reminisced about many facets of surviving hardships and appreciating what we have today as we looked back. Months later I met him in person and at 75-years-old you would not recognize him as the boy from Old Yeller, his famous feature film. But the voice was the same; the same voice that he was given from birth, when the Kirk family in search of better job prospects moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Downey, California. Kirk explained how he began his career: “My brother, Joe, wanted to be an actor and auditioned for plays around town. And at the prestigious Pasadena Play House I tagged along with him one summer day as I had nothing else to do. And to make a long story short he didn’t get the part, but I did. I was in a well-known play, Ah, Wilderness by Eugene O’Neill, with Will Rogers Jr. From that play I got an agent. One thing led to another and from plays I then was on national TV shows like Gunsmoke and The Loretta Young Show. Then Disney called.” This All-American kid was seen by Walt Disney who quickly signed him to a long-term contact lasting eight years. Upon learning this, I recalled my first memory of him on the small screen watching The Mickey Mouse Club. He was featured in the segments from the series The Hardy Boys: The Applegate Mystery. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. I then felt compelled to talk about his on-screen brother and co-star Tim Considine, who I had been trying pin down to interview for quite some time but with little luck. Stanley Livingston, who played Considine’s younger brother on My Three Sons, had informed me that Tim did not do interviews unless it has to do with cars, which is his passion and labor of love. And while that scenario eventually worked itself out, Kirk and I then chatted about his education on the Disney lot which lasted for a fairly lengthy period. “As a contract player you did as what they told you,” he said. “You are given a script and that kind of nurturing does not exist today in Hollywood.” He even went to the Hollywood Professional School as did Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney from their era. During his years with Disney he made 12 movies and we started talking about them. His favorites were the Shaggy Dog with Fred MacMurray, Swiss Family Robinson, and of course, Old Yeller. “By the way,” he said, “Old Yeller was a Labrador rescue dog they found in a pound. Isn’t that something? He was a nice kind animal.” Kirk then mentioned that his girlfriend in the movie. She was a well-known child actress, Beverly Washburn, who he remains in contact with, and who lives close by to him in Las Vegas. Old Yeller, meanwhile, is a tear jerker movie for all ages that’s really held up well over the years. “Some of the other movies I don’t care for and some of them I hate,” Kirk revealed. “They are awful, and I wish they would burn them.” That’s when I interjected and told him, “You are A-1 in my estimation. In show business back then there were kid actors and then there were real actors who just happened to be kids. You are of the latter.” Our conversation continued into the low budget feature films he did in his post-Disney years. “I made a movie called Village of The Giants with Johnny Crawford and Beau Bridges in 1965,” he intoned. “That movie should be in a time capsule as it portrayed the styles of the time.” Here, I must interject once more: if you visit YouTube and search for the trailer of this movie (which is labeled as a “classic trailer”), you will laugh your butt off. It is about teen age rebels who become 30 feet tall and take over their town. Ok. I’m finished with my interjection. “That was a class act compared to some of the other movies I did,” he said, “such as The Night of the Ghastly Horror or Streets of Death. But I learned not to take it personally. I look back now and think, ‘How did I ever get myself involved with these projects.’ I can’t blame anybody else. Nobody put a gun to my head. I did it strictly for the money. It’s just that simple.” We then got into his exit from the perils of Hollywood at the age of 35, which is when he started his own business. As he explained, “I wanted to get out completely and away from show business. I wanted my privacy back. And I had to make a living. I didn’t save any money when I was young. Truthfully I spent my youth making whoopee…. going to parties and raising hell. That’s really all I did…and I admit it. I was no paragon of virtue. I burned out of the Hollywood life. I didn’t do anything against the law that I will go to hell for. It was a carpet cleaning business. Then I had people working for me and I made a nice living. And that’s how I survived. So now I am an old pensioner, and I don’t have to do anything but watch the reruns of Law and Order and Judge Judy.”“I like the peace and quiet now,” he said. “I have no regrets. I am comfortable and never gave up on life and never will. I still love life.” And Baby Boomers still love you, Tommy Kirk.
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About the Book
Popular TV and film of the American 50’s and 60’s evolved over time, but themes of family and fun never wavered. Many Baby Boomers look back and miss those old days, but surprising, hilarious, and even shocking stories hid in Dark Shadows despite so many Happy Days. Now, secrets are revealed as celebrities share their memories and mishaps.
Shooting the Breeze with Baby Boomer Stars is a collection of first person stories and histories shared with Baby Boomer radio host, Torchy Smith. Torchy’s celebrity connection began before his own kids entered the entertainment business. He always had an interest in seeking a way to combine his nostalgia obsession with communications, which resulted in his own radio show where he interviewed actors from the past.
Read trade secrets never before revealed as stars chat about being on set for Animal House, Star Trek, Leave it to Beaver, and more. Go back in time with Baby Boomer icons as they relive behind-the-scenes snafus and fights all while honoring the glory days of television. Where are they now, and what are they doing? You’re about to find out.
About the Author
Edward “Torchy” Smith was born with bright red hair in 1947. The nurse brought him to his mother and said, “Here’s your little torch.” From that moment on, Mrs. Smith referred to her son as “Torchy,” and to this day, he has relatives and friends who don’t know his real first name.