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. Kirk died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2021. Thereafter, Kirk opened a carpet cleaning business and lived a mostly ordinary life, occasionally appearing at fan conventions. He struggled with drugs 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.
