Des Moines-born Bobby Stone joins Elvis Presley and actress Yvonne Craig on the set of “Kissin' Cousins.”
A BOWERY BOY TREAT For those who do not know who the Dead End Kids/Eastside Kids/Bowery Boys are, check out these new remixes of scenes from their movies, as advanced by YouTube, Inc.
"Saturday Night Fever in 1943"starring
Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bobby Jordan


The Bowery Boys
following is an excerpt from the Des Moines Register Budding actor Joe Aronow took the name Bobby Stone to honor his benefactor, Des Moines lawyer Irving Stone who helped the teen in his dream to be in the movies. The youth later said he had never had a business manager and credited his business acumen to his days of working as a carrier for The Des Moines Register. Stone’s last screen appearance was said to be in Elvis Presley’s “Kissin’ Cousins” in 1964.

Bobby Stone was born Joe Aronow in Des Moines in 1922. He left for Hollywood at 16, obsessed with becoming an actor.

He reached his goal and was best known for his performances in the popular “East Side Kids”/
“Bowery Boys” series of movies, playing a tough New York street kid.

When World War II came along, Stone served in the Army in entertainment divisions, mainly in the South Pacific. On returning to Hollywood after the war, he decided he would prefer to work behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera. That led to his longtime career as a casting director and production manager, primarily for director Sam Katzman, who had created the “Bowery Boys” films.

Aronow says Stone loved his work — “he had a ball” — and was particularly proud of Katzman’s better-quality films such as “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” about country singer Hank Williams, and two Elvis Presley movies, “Harum Scarum” (1965) and “Kissin’ Cousins” (1964). For the latter, Stone cast himself as the driver of an Army jeep and can be seen briefly on creen.

Aronow says his brother was known for his sense of humor, and when Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, gave Stone a life-sized imitation gorilla, he kept it in a foyer of his home, using it to startle guests.

~Des Moines Register



Eastside Kids/Bowery Boys from L to r:
Huntz Hall, Bobby Stone, and Leo Gorcey

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A little known fact about Elvis was that he enjoyed The Bowery Boys and their movies, perhaps inspired by his acquaintance with former Eastside Kid, Bobby Stone.

Elvis would spend time in his bed at Graceland, particularly during periods of illness, and enjoy watching the old movies, including reruns of the Bowery Boys, which had again become popular in the 1960's when Elvis had first met Bobby Stone.

The Bowery Boys are again enjoying renewed recognition via You Tube and film festivals, inspiring yet a new generation of movie-goers. Their popularity seems to increase with time as their film antics, wildness, and tough-guy good looks, remain timeless. Certainly, they impressed Elvis. But did Elvis impress The Bowery Boys? He surely impressed Bobby Stone, but what did Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall think of Elvis Presley®, the up and coming King of Rock and Roll? While Sach and Slip hung out weekly at Louie's Sweetshop, Elvis was fast becoming a rock and roll legend. The Bowery Boys grew up in the era of swing music, and several were champs at doing the Jitterbug, but what did they think of this new phenomenon, rock and roll, and the latest sensation in music, Elvis!?

Huntz Hall once compared the arrival of the Dead End Kids (prior Eastside Kids/Bowery Boys) in Hollywood to the arrival in the USA of the Beatles.

The Kin of Rock and Roll wonders: what did The Bowery Boys think of Elvis Presley®?


Stay tuned to find out more...








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