![]() 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. Kirk during recording for the English dub of The Snow Queen Frank Baum, but this film was never produced. Later that year, Kirk and Corcoran were announced for the cast of Rainbow Road to Oz, a feature film based on the stories of L. Kevin Corcoran played his younger brother and the two of them were often cast as brothers. 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. 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. Around this time, it was announced that Kirk would appear as Young Davy Crockett, but this did not happen. 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". Kirk also hosted short travelogues for the serial segment of the show's second season, sometimes with Annette Funicello. 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. The show and Kirk's performance were extremely well received and led to a long association between the actor and the studio. The show was filmed in June and early July 1956, and broadcast that October, at the start of the show's second season. "The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure". ![]() In April 1956, Kirk was cast as Joe Hardy for The Mickey Mouse Club serial Kirk's brother went on to become a dentist. 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. "It was five lines, it didn't pay anything, and nobody else showed up, so I got the part," recalled Kirk. Joe was not cast, losing out to Bobby Driscoll, but Tommy was, and he made his stage debut opposite Will Rogers Jr. 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. Looking for better job opportunities, they moved to Downey in Los Angeles County, California, when Kirk was 15 months old. His father, Louis, was a mechanic who worked for the highway department his mother, Lucy, was a legal secretary. Kirk was born in Louisville, Kentucky, one of four sons. He died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 2021, aged 79. Kirk opened a carpet cleaning business and lived a mostly ordinary life, occasionally appearing at fan conventions. 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's career with Disney ended when news of his homosexuality threatened to become public. 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. Thomas Lee Kirk (Decem– 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.
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