The 66 year-old former child actor, Kevin Corcoran died from complications of cancer onTuesday in Santa Monica, California. He was famous for playing the role of the youngest son in Old Yeller, a post-civil war tear-jerker.
After a five-year battle with colorectal cancer or bowel cancer, the actor turned producer Corcoran passed away at Providence St.Joseph Medical Center in Burbank as related by his wife laura to THR.
Colorectal cancer is brought about by an abnormal growth of cells in the colon or rectum of the large intestines that has the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body.
Signs and symptoms to look out for includes blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, and feeling tired all the time.
Corcoran transitioned from being a child actor in Old Yeller to working in various films and television shows, including Pete’s Dragon, and went on to work as a producer on such TV series as Sons of Anarchy and The Shield.
He was born and raised in Santa Monica with seven siblings, who were also into acting. Corcoran appeared in several Disney productions in the 1950s playing variations of a rambunctious kid named Moochie, in three Mickey Mouse Club serials and the movie The Shaggy Dog.
The 1957 tearjerker about a frontier family and their loyal yellow hound, Old Yeller is where Corcoran became known. He played the role of young Arlis Coates, the youngest son of the family in the film. He took on the again in a 1963 sequel, Savage Sam. His other movie credits include Toby Tyler (aka Ten Weeks With a Circus), Swiss Family Robinson, Babes in Toyland, and A Tiger Walks.
Corcoran enjoyed a second act as an assistant director (Murder, She Wrote; Baywatch) and producer (Return From Witch Mountain, Sons of Anarchy), after he completed a degree in theater arts from Cal State Northridge. In 2006, he was named a Disney Legend.
He married his wife Laura of 43 years in 1972. The couple remained together until his death.
