Tommy Kirk, child star in ‘Old Yeller,’ dies in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES — Tommy Kirk, a kid prima who played successful Disney films specified arsenic “Old Yeller” and “The Shaggy Dog,” has died. He was 79.

Kirk’s longtime person and erstwhile kid star, Paul Petersen, said helium was recovered dormant successful his Las Vegas location connected Tuesday. The origin of decease has not been released.

Petersen said Kirk lived a backstage beingness arsenic a cheery antheral and was estranged from what “remains of his humor family.”

“He was precise overmuch a portion of our kid prima community,” Peterson said. “He made immoderate fantastic films backmost successful the day. We saw and enjoyed them. He was respected successful his church. He lived a quiet, but afloat life.”

Kirk started his vocation with respective tv shows including the Mickey Mouse Club’s serialized escapade “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure” and “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm,” which aired successful 1956-1957. His large interruption came erstwhile helium starred arsenic Travis Coates successful the 1957 movie “Old Yeller,” a communicative astir a teenage lad and his heroic yellowish dog.

In “The Shaggy Dog,” Kirk portrayed a teenage lad who was cursed with occasionally turning into a sheepdog. He played the mediate lad alongside James MacArthur and Kevin Corcoran — who played his brothers — successful the 1960 movie “Swiss Family Robinson.”

Kirk played successful a slew of different films successful the 1960s including “The Absent-Minded Professor” and its sequel “Son of Flubber.” He besides starred successful “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.”

In 1973, Kirk publically came retired arsenic cheery during an interview. The histrion opened up 20 years aboriginal that helium realized helium was cheery astatine property 17 oregon 18 and that his vocation was destroyed by his intersexual orientation.

Kirk made immoderate quality successful the 1990s and 2000s successful films specified arsenic “Billy Frankenstein” and “The Education of a Vampire,” his last film.