Every Disney Hero Has
a Voice
Arliss Coats
Old Yeller (1949)
Disney Legend ~ Bill Corcoran
June 10th, 1949
One
of seven children of MGM studio policeman Bill Corcoran, Kevin Corcoran was
born in 1949 in Santa Monica, California, and began acting when he was two.
During his onscreen career, he would come to embody an "American
Everykid."
"The
Mouseketeers were entertainers and role models, and Tommy Kirk and Kurt Russell
were teen faves," says film writer Donald Liebenson. "But kids in the
audience related more to Corcoran, who created a character who was part
All-American boy and part hellion."
Corcoran's
first film appearance was as the kid version of Tyrone Power's character in
Henry Kings' adventure film Untamed (1955), after which he and sisters, Noreen
and Donna, played Quaker farmer Ernest Borgnine's children in Violent Saturday.
In
1956, Kevin auditioned for a serialized segment of the "Mickey Mouse
Club" called "Adventures in Dairyland." He won the role of a
character whose name was "Moochie," a nickname that seemed to suit
his rambunctious personality. Walt Disney was so impressed with Kevin's Disney
debut that he had a special role written for "Moochie" in another
"Mickey Mouse Club" serial, "The Further Adventures of Spin and
Marty."
Kevin
went on to co-star in the Disney theatrical features "Old Yeller"
(1957), "The Shaggy Dog" (1959), "Pollyanna", "Swiss
Family Robinson", and played the title role in "Toby Tyle"r
(1960). He also appeared in "Babes in Toyland" (1961), "Bon
Voyage!", "The Mooncussers" (1962) "Savage Sam"
(1963), and "A Tiger Walks" (1964). Kevin was top-billed in the
Disney TV projects "Moochie of the Little League" (1959),
"Moochie of Pop Warner Football" (1961), and "Johnny
Shiloh" (1963).
Kevin
quit acting after a minor role in "Blue" (1968), "When the film
industry got very strange," he says. "I decided to retire from acting
because I felt I knew more about the business than the people who were
interviewing me for the parts."
After
graduating from Cal State Northridge with a degree in Theatre Arts, Kevin
returned to Disney, working behind the camera on such films as
"Superdad" (1973), "Island at the Top of the World" (1974)
and "Pete's Dragon" (1977) and television programs like "The New
Mickey Mouse Club" (1977) and "The Kids Who New Too Much."
(1980)
Kevin
was associate producer of "Return from Witch Mountain" (1978) and
"The North Avenue Irregulars" (1979), co-produced "Herbie Goes
Bananas" (1980), and was the producer of Disney's 1983 comedy series
"Zorro and Son."
He
has been first assistant director on many TV series, including "Scarecrow
and Mrs. King," "Baywatch," "Quantum Leap,"
"Profiler," and "Karen Sisco." For the beloved Angela
Lansbury series "Murder, She Wrote," Kevin variously served as first
assistant director, assistant producer, and director.
Kevin
has avoided the disappointment and scandal of many child stars -- he has
maintained a successful and stable career, and has been married to the same
woman for 33 years. He credits his family's down-to-earth sensibility about the
business for his ability to avoid its pitfalls. "Some people's families
are in the delicatessen business," Kevin says simply. "My family was
in the picture business."
He
also credits Walt Disney for being a caring father figure. Kevin remembers
going to Walt's office after one contract negotiation. "He called me up
there and said, 'This is between you and me. I want to know if you feel you're
being treated fairly.' I know darn well if I had said I was unhappy, he would
have done something about it."
Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran (born June
10, 1949) is an American director, producer, and former child actor. He
appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, frequently as an
irrepressible character with the nickname Moochie. One of eight children, most
of whom did some acting in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Corcoran is the
sibling whose work is best remembered. His father, William "Bill"
Corcoran, Sr. (1905–1958), was a police officer and then director of
maintenance at MGM Studios. Corcoran's mother, the former Kathleen McKenney
(1917–1972), was, like her husband, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts.
Moochie
Between 1956 and 1960, Corcoran played several different
(but similar) characters, each bearing the nickname Moochie. Although he was
never a Mouseketeer, Corcoran appeared in three Mickey Mouse Club serials,
beginning with Adventure in Dairyland, where he played Moochie
McCandless, a farmer's son. This was the first of Corcoran's many Disney
credits. He soon returned, as Montgomery (Moochie) O'Hara, in two Spin and
Marty serials, The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty and The
New Adventures of Spin and Marty.
Corcoran
appeared in a Mouseketeer outfit with the name Moochie across his chest - once.
In Disneyland: The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957), an episode of the Disney
anthology television series, "Mouseketeer" Moochie repeatedly badgers
Walt Disney for information about Zorro.
Continuing his fictional Moochie roles, Corcoran played
Montgomery "Moochie" Daniels in the 1959 Disney film The Shaggy
Dog. He also starred as Moochie Morgan in Moochie of the Little League
(1959) and Moochie of Pop Warner Football (1960), both for the Disney
anthology series. Character actor Russ Conway played his father.
In each iteration, Moochie likes to hang out with the
older "guys" (big brother Wilby in The Shaggy Dog, the title
characters in Spin and Marty), and hates being treated like the little
kid he is. His determination to emulate elder peers despite adult warnings
(swimming, helping Wilby, even switch-hitting) frequently gets him in trouble,
but Moochie's bravado always returns soon afterward. Film writer Donald
Liebenson has called Corcoran's character "part All-American boy and part
hellion."
Other childhood roles
Corcoran appeared in numerous Disney projects (and a
handful of non-Disney ones) without the Moochie name. He starred as Toby, an
orphan who runs off to join the circus, in Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus
(1960). This was the only theatrical film in which Corcoran had the lead role.
Important co-starring roles include the following:
- Old
Yeller (1957) - younger son Arliss Coates
- Goliath
II (1960) - Goliath II
- Pollyanna (1960) -
Pollyanna's friend, orphan Jimmy Bean
- Swiss
Family Robinson (1960) - youngest son Francis Robinson
- Daniel
Boone (1960 Disney miniseries) - son James Boone
- Babes in
Toyland (1961) - nursery rhyme character Boy Blue
- Bon
Voyage! (1962) - younger son Skipper Willard
- The
Mooncussers (1962 Disney TV) - Jonathan Feather
- Johnny
Shiloh (1963 Disney TV) - Union Army drummer Johnny
Lincoln Clem
- Savage
Sam (1963) - Arliss Coates again
- A Tiger
Walks (1964) - Tom Hadley
Kevin Corcoran and Tommy Kirk played brothers in five films,
beginning with 1957's Old Yeller. The other films in this category were The
Shaggy Dog (1959), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Bon Voyage!
(1962) and Savage Sam (sequel to Old Yeller, 1963). Fred
MacMurray played their father in The Shaggy Dog and Bon Voyage! Dorothy
McGuire played their mother in Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson.
Corcoran largely retired from acting after A Tiger
Walks, although he also appeared in the 1968 film Blue in a minor
role. It was probably around the time of the latter film that he attended
college. In an interview for the DVD release of The Shaggy Dog, he
credits his studio teachers with having prepared him well for his college
studies.
Adult career
Corcoran graduated from California State University,
Northridge with a degree in theatre arts. After this he returned to Disney,
this time working behind the camera as an assistant director and producer. His
credits from this era include Superdad (1973), The Island at the Top
of the World (1974) and Pete's Dragon (1977). Appropriately, he also
worked on The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). He was an associate producer
on Treasure of Matecumbe (1976), on the sequel Return from Witch
Mountain (1978) and on The North Avenue Irregulars (1979). He
co-produced Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), and was the producer of the
comedy television series Zorro and Son (1983). Corcoran's more recent
contributions to Disney include commentaries and interviews on such Disney DVD
releases as The Shaggy Dog and Pollyanna.
He has also served as first assistant director on several
non-Disney television series, including Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Quantum
Leap, Profiler and Karen Sisco; and produced a number of
projects. Over the course of his tenure on the Angela Lansbury series Murder She Wrote, he was credited as first
assistant director, assistant producer, and director.
Family
Kevin Corcoran is the brother of Donna Corcoran, Noreen
Corcoran, Hugh Corcoran, Brian Corcoran, Kerry Corcoran, and Kelly Corcoran
(1958–2002). Elder siblings Donna, Noreen, and Hugh Corcoran have extensive
film and television credits as child actors during the 1950s. Donna, Noreen,
and Kevin all appeared in the 1955 film Violent Saturday.
Noreen Corcoran starred as Kelly Gregg on the television
series Bachelor Father from 1957-1962. During its five-year run, Bachelor
Father was seen on all three national networks. Brian Corcoran played
Kevin's brother, and Kerry, his sister, in the 1960 Daniel Boone miniseries
on Walt Disney Presents, then on ABC. Brian also was Willie Winkie to
Kevin Corcoran's Boy Blue in the 1961 film Babes in Toyland.
Donna Corcoran played Moochie's sister Marian in Moochie
of the Little League (1960). She also played Bridget White, ("...eight
years old") as the little orphan who saw the "Angels in the Outfield"
in the original 1951 version with Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh. Younger brother
Kelly Corcoran (1958–2002) portrayed 8-year-old Kip Pride in the NBC western
series The Road West (1966–1967), starring Barry Sullivan.
Kevin Corcoran and his wife have been married since 1972.
Disney Legend
Kevin Corcoran was honored as a Disney Legend on October
9, 2006. Among the other recipients at the 2006 ceremony were the two lead
actors in Corcoran's Spin and Marty serials, Tim Considine and David
Stollery, and Corcoran's frequent co-star, Tommy Kirk, himself a veteran of Mickey
Mouse Club serials about the Hardy Boys.
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