Actors - Tommy Kirk

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	Actors - Tommy Kirk

Tommy Kirk (born December 10, 1941 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a former American child actor, and later a businessman and adult actor.

Kirk was discovered by talent agents at the age of 13 in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. Hired by Walt Disney Productions, he was cast as a clean-cut teenager in The Hardy Boys serial feature which was aired in the The Mickey Mouse Club
television series in 1955 and 1956.

He had starring roles in a succession of successful Disney feature films including the 1957 movie Old Yeller
, the 1959 movie The Shaggy Dog, the 1960 movie Swiss Family Robinson, the 1961 movies The Absent Minded Professor and Babes in Toyland, and the 1964 movies The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
and The Monkey's Uncle
(released in 1965).

While Kirk's Disney contract had expired in 1963, the studio chose not to renew when it transpired Kirk was gay). Walt Disney himself reportedly fired Kirk. He was re-hired for the Merlin Jones movies -- The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and The Monkey's Uncle.

Kirk also played a part in several of the the 1960s Beach Party film
and teen movie genres, with appearances in American International Pictures' Pajama Party (taking Frankie Avalon
's usual role with Annette Funicello
, while Avalon played a Martian leader!) and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (opposite Deborah Walley
), and later in the independent It's a Bikini World (paired again with Walley), plus starring in 1965's memorable Village of the Giants. He costarred with "Batgirl" Yvonne Craig
in AIP's Mars Needs Women, released in 1968.

Kirk's career slumped after the 1960s when he reached adulthood. He experienced many of the same troubles other former child and teen stars did when they matured. A successful business owner, he continued to act occasionally. This included a role in the R-rated spoof Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold''). He has, as of 2006, a total of more than 30 feature films roles to his credit.

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