Kevin Corcoran
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| Kevin Corcoran | |
 Kevin Corcoran as Moochie in The Shaggy Dog |
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| Birth name | Kevin Corcoran |
| Born | June 10, 1949 |
| Other name(s) | "Moochie" |
| Notable roles | Moochie, Toby Tyler |
Kevin "Moochie" Corcoran, born June 10, 1949 in Santa Monica, California, 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 the youngest of seven children, most of whom did some acting in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Kevin Corcoran is the sibling whose work is best remembered today. His father, Bill Corcoran, was an MGM Studio police officer.
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[edit] 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 the 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 even 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.
In each iteration, Moochie likes to hang out with the older "guys" (big brother Wilby in The Shaggy Dog, 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."[1]
[edit] 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
- Pollyanna (1960) - Pollyanna's friend, orphan Jimmy Bean
- Swiss Family Robinson (1960) - younger 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!
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.
[edit] 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 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.
[edit] Family
Kevin Corcoran is the brother of Donna, Noreen, Hugh, Brian, Kerry and Kelly Corcoran. Elder siblings Donna, Noreen, and Hugh Corcoran have extensive film and television credits as child actors during the 1950's. Donna, Noreen, and Kevin all appeared in the 1955 film Violent Saturday. Noreen Corcoran starred on the television series Bachelor Father from 1957-1962. Brian played Kevin's brother, and Kerry, his sister, in the 1960 Daniel Boone series on Wonderful World of Disney. 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). Younger brother Kelly Corcoran appeared in numerous television series during the 1960s.
Kevin Corcoran and his wife have been married since 1970.
[edit] 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.[2]
[edit] References
The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History by Bill Cotter. Hyperion, 1997. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5
