Mickey Kuhn

Biography

One of Hollywood's staple child actors during the 30s and 40s, Mickey Kuhn played alongside many a top Hollywood star from Leslie Howard and Conrad Nagel's son to playing Dick Tracy's ward. Once he reached the "awkward teens" stage, however, he found himself primarily unemployed or in unbilled parts and looked elsewhere for career satisfaction. Born Theodore Matthew Michael Kuhn, Jr. on September 21, 1932 in Waukegan, Illinois, he was the younger of two children born to Theodore Sr. and the former Pearl Hicks. The family moved to Hollywood during the Depression where his father found reliable work as a meat cutter. Mickey added to the family income at age 2 when, by chance, he was cast by Fox Studios for the movie Change of Heart (1934) starring the preeminent movie couple at the time, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Attending kindergarten at the Mark-Ken School for professional children, he returned to films as a 5-year-old in A Doctor's Diary (1937) made by Paramount. His devoted mother oversaw and protected him throughout most of his young career. 1939 was a banner year for Mickey as it was for Hollywood itself, appearing as Crown Prince Augustin in the "A" picture Juarez (1939) starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis, and as Ashley Wilkes' son Beau in the Civil War classic Gone with the Wind (1939). While he did not rise to moppet stardom, the boy proved quite dependable and a fast learner, and was actively involved in a few prestigious pictures during the 1940s, including One Foot in Heaven (1941), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) and Red River (1948). He particularly enjoyed horses and participating in such action fare as S.O.S. Tidal Wave (1939), _Roaring Rangers (1946) and Broken Arrow (1950). His attention also turned to the stage as a teenager, performing at the Pasadena Playhouse and other Los Angeles-based theaters in between film shoots. Fewer roles came his way, however, and in 1951 he decided to enlist in the Navy. After a four-year term of duty, he returned to films and TV in 1955 but without much fanfare. He married around this time and had two children. Preferring a steadier source of income, he attended L.A. Valley College and Cal State Northridge on his G.I. Bill majoring in Theater Arts while holding an assortment of odd jobs. In 1965 he was hired by American Airlines and subsequently served as a supervisor to flight attendants. He later became an administrative manager at a Boston airport. Divorced, he remarried in 1984 and retired from the airlines in 1995. More recently he has spent his time conducting historical tours around and about the city of Boston and has appeared at various film festivals. He received the Golden Boot Award for his work in westerns in 2005.