Our Gang/Little Rascals (1922-1944)
Complete Cast Information on Our Gang (Little Rascals) from 1922 to 1944
List activity
122K views
• 112 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
92 people
- Peggy Cartwright was born on 14 November 1912 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for A Lady of Quality (1924), Magic Night (1932) and The Third Generation (1920). She was married to Bill Walker and Phil Baker. She died on 13 June 2001 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.November 14, 1912 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - June 13, 2001 (age 88) in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Peggy Cartwright 1922 (5 shorts) - Jack Davis was born on 5 April 1914 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Big Doll House (1971), Code Name: Apollo (1970) and The Master Liquidators (1969). He was married to Josephine. He died on 3 November 1992 in Santa Monica, California, USA.John H. Davis
April 5, 1914 in Los Angeles, California - November 3, 1992 (age 78) in Santa Monica, California
Jackie Davis, Waldemar 1922-1923 (19 shorts) - Weston Doty was born on 18 February 1913 in Malta, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Peter Pan (1924) and One Terrible Day (1922). He died on 1 January 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA.February 18, 1913 in Malta, Ohio - January 1, 1934 (age 20) in Los Angeles, California (drowned)
Weston Doty 1922-1923 (5 shorts) - Winston Doty was born on 18 February 1913 in Malta, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Peter Pan (1924), One Terrible Day (1922) and A Pleasant Journey (1923). He died on 1 January 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA.February 18, 1913 in Malta, Ohio - January 1, 1934 (age 20) in Los Angeles, California (drowned)
Winston Doty 1922-1923 (5 shorts) - Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
George Ward was born on 27 November 1916 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Their Own Desire (1929), The March of Time (1930) and Good News (1930). He died on 3 January 1998 in Toms River, New Jersey, USA.George "Freckles" Warde 1922-1923 (5 shorts)- Actor
- Soundtrack
"Sunshine Sammy" Morrison was most famous as one of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids, but he was probably the most experienced actor of that group. Morrison made his film debut while still an infant; his father worked for a wealthy Los Angeles family that had connections in the film industry, and one day a producer who was an acquaintance of his father's needed a baby for a scene and asked him to bring Sammy as a replacement for a child who wasn't working out. Morrison pulled off the job like a trouper, and his career was born. He appeared in films with such comedians as Harold Lloyd and, in fact, was paired with 'Snub' Pollard in a series of one-reel comedies in 1920. Producer Hal Roach gave Morrison his own comedy series in 1921, but only one was made. He was eventually cast by Roach as one of the original Our Gang kids. He left the series in 1924 for a turn in vaudeville, where he spent the next 16 years. When the East Side Kids films were being cast, producer Sam Katzman remembered Morrison from the days when Katzman was a theatrical producer and Morrison had worked for him, and hired him as a member of the gang. Morrison left the series when he was drafted into the army during World War II, and after he got out he was offered his old job back, but declined it. After a few more film roles, Morrison left show business entirely, took a job in an aircraft assembly plant and spent the next 30 years in the aircraft industry.Frederick Ernest Morrison
December 20, 1912 in New Orleans, Louisiana - July 24, 1989 (age 76) in Lynwood, California (cancer)
Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, Booker T. Bacon, Booker T., Sorghum 1922-1924 (28 shorts)- Child actor and bit player Monty O'Grady was born John Montgomery O'Grady on March 6, 1916 in Los Angeles, California. O'Grady began his film career in the silent movie era of the mid-1920s as a child actor who's probably best known as a member of the early Our Gang group. Upon reaching adulthood O'Grady went on to become an extremely prolific and ubiquitous extra who can be spotted in a slew of films and TV shows alike in often uncredited minors roles such as reporters, waiters, party guests, passengers on ocean liners, or patrons in bars, nightclubs, or restaurants. His career as an actor spanned seven decades altogether. O'Grady died at age 84 on March 8, 2000 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.John Montgomery O'Grady
March 6, 1916 in Los Angeles, California - March 8, 2000 (age 84) in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Monty 1922-1924 (5 shorts) - Actor
- Editor
- Editorial Department
Elmo Billings was born on 24 June 1912 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was an actor and editor, known for Terry and the Pirates (1952), Fire Fighters (1922) and Locked Doors (1925). He died on 6 February 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Elmo G. Ludwick
June 24, 1912 in Los Angeles County, California - February 6, 1964 (age 51) in Los Angeles, California (stroke)
Elmo 1922-1925 (7 shorts)- Mickey Daniels was born on 11 October 1914 in Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA. He was an actor, known for The Little Minister (1922), Roaring Roads (1935) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). He died on 20 August 1970 in San Diego, California, USA.Richard Daniels Jr.
October 11, 1914 in Rock Springs, Wyoming - August 20, 1970 (age 55) in San Diego, California (cirrhosis of liver)
Mickey Daniels 1922-1926 (49 shorts) - Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Idaho in 1915, perky blonde Mary Kornman's acting career began at age five. She made her "name" as the cute, spunky little girl in the 1920s' "Our Gang" shorts, and was often paired with Mickey Daniels. The two returned to the screen as a pair again several years after leaving the "Rascals" series with a new series of comedy shorts for Hal Roach called "The Boy Friends" (in 1932 she made a cameo appearance, along with Daniels, in a Little Rascals short, Fish Hooky (1933), as the gang's teacher!). The "Boy Friends" series lasted three years, and after that Mary struck out on her own, but couldn't manage much beyond "B" pictures. She left the business in 1940, and died in 1973.December 27, 1915 in Idaho Falls, Idaho - June 1, 1973 (age 57) in Glendale, California (cancer)
Mary 1922-1926 (42 shorts)- Gabe Saienz was born on 26 March 1913 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Lodge Night (1923), The Sun Down Limited (1924) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). He died on 7 July 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.March 26, 1913 in Los Angeles, California - July 7, 1989 (age 76) in Los Angeles, California
Gabe Saienz, Toughy, Snoozer, Komp, Banty 1922-1926 (19 shorts) - John Michael Condon, known professionally as Jackie Condon, was born in Los Angeles, California. His acting career began in the silent film Jinx (1919) when he was a few months shy of two years old. He is most well-known for being one of the original cast members of the "Our Gang" short film series, as well as being the only member to appear in all sixty-six of the shorts during the Pathé silent era. After his final "Our Gang" appearance in the short Election Day (1929) at the age of eleven, he attempted to make a transition from silent pictures to talkies; however, he was unsuccessful. He continued trying to get back into acting well into his adult years, and in a 1953 interview on the program You Asked for It (1950), he stated that he was studying dramatics under the actress Florence Enright. Still, he never made it back onto the big screen, save for a few "Our Gang" reunions. As an adult he worked as either a file clerk or an accountant at Rockwell International, working alongside former "Our Gang" co-star Joe Cobb. He died of colon cancer on October 13, 1977 in Inglewood, California. He was 59 years old.John Michael Condon
March 25, 1918 in Los Angeles, California - October 13, 1977 (age 59) in Inglewood, California (cancer)
Jackie Condon, Roosevelt Pershing Smith, Adelbert Wallingford, Cousin Percy 1922-1929 (78 shorts) - Allen 'Farina' Hoskins was born on 9 August 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Business (1931), Moan & Groan, Inc. (1929) and A Tough Winter (1930). He was married to Frances. He died on 26 July 1980 in Oakland, California, USA.Allen Clayton Hoskins
August 9, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts - July 26, 1980 (age 59) in Oakland, California (cancer)
Farina Hoskins 1922-1931 (105 shorts) ***** - Starring in early "Our Gang" films, Samuel got his break in the movies by tagging along with his older brother who was an agent for Ramon Novarro. When he got too big and outgrew the other kids, he left the series and never returned to acting. For 20 years, Andy and his son operated an art and picture-framing shop in Beverly Hills, "H.A. Samuel & Son." Samuel died following a stroke.April 10, 1909 in Los Angeles, California - March 5, 1992 (age 82) in Colton, California (stroke)
Andy Samuel, Cooty Martin, Lewis De Vore 1923-1925 (19 shorts) - Sonny Loy was born on 11 March 1915 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The First Born (1921), Mr. Wu (1927) and The Divine Woman (1928). He died on 8 January 1950 in California, USA.Louis Cordova
August 15, 1912 in Los Angeles, California - June, 1986 (age 73) in Colorado Springs, Colorado
a.k.a. George "Sonny Boy" Warde
Sing Joy 1923-1925 (9 shorts) - Ivadell Carter was born on 7 January 1914 in Sedalia, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Evangeline (1919), Jubilo, Jr. (1924) and The Sun Down Limited (1924). She was married to Fahy Johnson and Wendell "Peter" Patten. She died on 2 April 2010 in Burbank, California, USA.Grace Ivadell Carter
January 7, 1914 in Sedalia, Missouri - April 2, 2010 (age 96) in Burbank, California
Wadell "Pansy" Carter 1923-1925 (8 shorts) - Billy Lord was born on 11 January 1915 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Ridin' Streak (1925), The Love Trap (1923) and The Chinatown Mystery (1928). He died on 13 June 1983 in Kern County, California, USA.William Irving Lord
January 11, 1915 in Los Angeles, California - June 13, 1983 (age 68) in Kern County, California
Billy Lord 1923-1925 (6 shorts) - Peggy Ahern was born on 9 March 1917 in Douglas, Arizona, USA. She was an actress, known for Not So Long Ago (1925), The Vanishing American (1925) and The Sun Down Limited (1924). She died on 24 October 2012 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.Peggy Lenore Ahern
March 9, 1917 in Douglas, Arizona - October 24, 2012 (age 95) in Culver City, Los Angeles, California
Peggy Ahearn 1923-1927 (11 shorts) - Joe Cobb was born on 7 November 1916 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926), Good Cheer (1926) and The Buccaneers (1924). He died on 21 May 2002 in Santa Ana, California, USA.November 7, 1916 in Shawnee, Oklahoma - May 21, 2002 (age 85) in Santa Ana, California
Joe Cobb 1923-1929 (85 shorts) **** - Jannie Hoskins was born on 19 March 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Good Cheer (1926), Halfback Buster (1928) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). She died on 11 January 1996 in San Francisco, California, USA.Jane Florence Hoskins
March 19, 1923 in Los Angeles, California - January 11, 1996 (age 72) in San Francisco, California
Mango, Arnica, Zuccini, Trellis 1923-1935 (26 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Eugene Jackson gained fame as Farina's older brother, Pineapple, in six of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" comedy shorts - The Mysterious Mystery! (1924), The Big Town (1925), Circus Fever (1925), Dog Days (1925), The Love Bug (1925), and Shootin' Injuns (1925). Besides films he sang and danced on the vaudeville circuit - billed as "Hollywood's most famous colored kid star". Most of his film roles were bit parts, most uncredited. He did appear as Diahann Carroll's Uncle Lou on TV's Julia (1968) and Redd Foxx's friend on Sanford and Son (1972). In later years he taught dance at studios he started in Compton and Pasadena. He trained several performers in the film Porgy and Bess (1959). His work was featured in a dance retrospective for the 1993 Los Angeles Festival.December 25, 1916 in Buffalo, New York - October 26, 2001 (age 84) in Compton, California (heart attack)
Pineapple, Snowball 1924-1925 (6 shorts)- Lassie Lou Ahern, who enjoyed a substantial career in 1920s Hollywood working with the likes of Will Rogers, Charley Chase, Helen Holmes, and the team of Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, has passed away in Prescott, Arizona, USA, due to complications of the flu. After decades of relative obscurity, interest in her life and filmography won her a new audience of fans during her final years owing to a renewed cultural appreciation of silent cinema and to efforts made toward restoring her final silent film. Along with surviving star "Baby Peggy" (Diana Serra Cary), 99, Ahern was the last Hollywood performer with deep roots in motion pictures before the coming of sound. Brimming with stories, details, and information, her loss finds our relationship to silent cinema moving from living history to simply that of history.
She was born four blocks away from the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood. Her father, Fred Ahern, was a real estate agent who had Will Rogers as a leading client as Culver City was being formed. After meeting Lassie and her older sister Peggy, Rogers encouraged Ahern to take his daughters to Hal Roach studios to be cast in parts calling for children, and soon they earned ancillary roles in the Our Gang. Rogers took an active interest in Lassie, ensuring she had parts in his films. Throughout her life, with great fondness, she considered him her "real" father. She made her debut in Roach's first full-length movie, an adaptation of The Call of the Wild (1923), and soon was regularly cast in Charley Chase comedies and as the object of rescue in the popular serials of Helen Holmes. In pictures such as Webs of Steel (1925), Lassie, like Holmes, supplied her own dangerous stunt work. Meanwhile she appeared in productions by independent producers (The Dark Angel for Samuel Goldwyn, Hell's Highroad for Cecil B. DeMille, Robes of Sin for William Russell [all 1925]), as well as features at major studies (John Ford's now lost film Thank You and Excuse Me starring Norma Shearer [both 1925]), before landing a contract with Universal in the mid-1920s.
She found her biggest success in the epic Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927), in which she landed the part of Little Harry over hundreds of boys who auditioned for the role. Shot largely on location on the Mississippi River, she appeared in the legendary sequence featuring the escape across the ice floes. While the movie would be the object of a spate of bad fortune that led to its taking more than a year and a half to make, it was the highlight of her career and won her excellent notices. Of her acting, biographer Jeffrey Crouse, in an extended interview conducted with her in 2013 for Film International, has written that, "though by today's standards she fails to convince as a boy, she commits fully to the movie in such an animated, engaging way that she provides it with a color splash which sweetly enlivens the picture." It ended up becoming the third most expensive 1920s Hollywood production after Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) and Old Ironsides (1926), and like those other films it lost money at the box office.
At Universal she had her own dressing room (it had once been Conrad Nagel's) and star on the door. An entire clothing line was named after her ("Lassie Lou Classics"), and her name and image were used to endorse such brands as Sunkist oranges, Buster Brown shoes, and Jean Carol frocks. At the same time, she was cast in the rare Jewish-themed drama Surrender (1927) opposite Mary Philbin and, in his only American film, Ivan Mozhukhin. She also appeared as an Arab girl in The Forbidden Woman (1927) starring Jetta Goudal and Joseph Schildkraut. Schildkraut, who would later win an Oscar for playing Captain Alfred Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), announced at the wrap party that he was so impressed by her acting skills that he considered her his "favourite co-star." That year also saw her cast as the co-lead opposite rising child star Frankie Darro in the FBO production Little Mickey Grogan. It was her swan song to silent pictures, and alongside her part as Little Harry, her role as the street urchin Susan Dale was the one of which she was most proud.
The late 1920s saw a spate of proto-gangster films (Underworld [1927], Ladies of the Mob [1928], and Thunderbolt [1929]), and alarmed by the rising depiction of screen violence, Fred Ahern took his daughters out of pictures. Instead, he opened a dance studio, only blocks from MGM, called "Ahern's Allied Arts." There--besides dance styles such as ballet and tap--acrobatics, rope tricks, and music were taught. Ernest Belcher, Marge Champion's father, had been Lassie's dance instructor, and indeed she had been a trained dancer before the studio opened, amply showing off her skills in Uncle Tom's Cabin and Little Mickey Grogan. From 1932 to 1939, the sisters successfully toured the world together in a variety of venues, even appearing on screen (marvelous in 1937's Hollywood Party). Their act broke up when each sister decided to marry.
While Peggy permanently retired from performing, Lassie returned to Hollywood in 1941 with husband Johnny Brent, a former Dixieland drummer who was employed for years as a musician for studio orchestras. She danced in City of Lost Girls (1941) and in the early musicals Donald O'Connor made at Universal (1943's Top Man and Mister Big and 1945's Patrick the Great). She was effusive in her praise for O'Connor, openly regarding him as the finest performer she ever worked with. She was also nearly cast opposite Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943), and had a bit part with Joseph Cotten in George Cukor's Gaslight (1944). When she returned to the screen decades later, it was not on the big one but on television, in small parts in episodes of The Odd Couple; Love, American Style; and other popular series.
In middle age, she not only was a travel agent but for more than thirty years taught dance to generations of students at the Ashram Spa near San Diego, with Renee Zellweger and Cindy Crawford among her pupils. In the 1970s, while researching an upcoming role in which she was to be cast as a madam, Faye Dunaway approached Lassie for walking lessons because of her commanding posture.
Besides her late husband and sister, Lassie's half-brother Fred had also worked in the industry, notably as a production designer for Alfred Hitchcock in five pictures he made for the Master of Suspense from the period of Spellbound (1945) to Stage Fright (1950). Lassie leaves behind three children, Cary, Debra, and John. She told Crouse in 2013, "It's gratifying to experience such interest in my work from you and so many others from around the world. Fan letters, especially from Germany and Spain, still arrive at my mailbox at a rate that amazes me."
An original 35-mm nitrate copy of Little Mickey Grogan has been found in the Lobster Films Archive in Paris. Crouse and co-producer Eric Grayson are working to restore it.June 25, 1920 in Los Angeles, California
Lassie Lou Ahearn 1924-1927 (7 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Johnny Downs was born on 10 October 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mad Monster (1942), Coronado (1935) and Sing Another Chorus (1941). He was married to June Ellen Draper. He died on 6 June 1994 in Coronado, California, USA.John Morey Downs
October 10, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York - June 6, 1994 (age 80) in Coronado, California (cancer)
Johnny Downs, John "Tuffy" Thompson 1925-1927 (23 shorts)- Jay R. Smith was the second freckled-faced youngster to be featured in producer Hal Roach's successful film series, "Our Gang" (later known on television as "The Little Rascals".) His first "Our Gang" film was _Boys Will be Joys(1925)_ in a small role. Smith was put into the series as a sort-of replacement for Mickey Daniels, the original freckle-faced kid in the gang; Daniels was outgrowing his youthful role. While never a "star" in the Gang, Smith continued in the series for the next four years. He made his last Gang appearance in the early talkie _Moan & Groan, Inc.(1929)_ as a boy who gets a police officer trapped in Japanese handcuff toy. As an adult, Smith got into the retail paint business and attended movie conventions, offering his signature. On October 5, 2002, Smith's body was found 25 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, having died from multiple stab wounds. Charles "Wayne" Crombie, a homeless man who Smith had reportedly befriended, was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.August 29, 1915 in Los Angeles, California - October 5, 2002 (age 87) in Las Vegas, Nevada (stabbing)
Jay R. Smith 1925–1929 (36 shorts) - Clifton "Bobby" Young gained notoriety as a child actor playing "Bonedust" during Our Gang's sound transition period. Of all the graduates of Our Gang (with the exception of Jackie Cooper and, arguably, Dickie Moore), Clifton had the greatest shot at adult stardom - at least as far as strong character roles were concerned. With his Kirk Douglas cleft chin, Clifton was active in several top-drawer postwar pictures: Dark Passage (1947), especially memorable as a weaselly blackmailer who picks up escaped convict Humphrey Bogart, Pursued (1947), directed by Raoul Walsh, Possessed (1947), and Blood on the Moon (1948). He was also a semi-regular in Warner Bros.' popular "Joe McDoakes" comedy shorts and played a bad guy in two 'Roy Rogers' Republic oaters. Clifton hit a rough personal period in 1951 and had moved into a hotel after a painful divorce, where he died smoking in bed.Robert H. Young
September 15, 1917 in Schenectady, New York - September 10, 1951 (age 33) in Los Angeles, California (smoke asphyxiation)
Bonedust 1925-1931 (18 shorts) - Scooter Lowry was born on 19 December 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Thundering Fleas (1926), Shivering Spooks (1926) and Baby Brother (1927). He died on 1 May 1989 in Florida, USA.Elmer C. Lowry
January 11, 1919 in New York City - June 6, 2008 (age 89) in Ashton, West Virginia
Scooter Lowry 1926-1927 (13 shorts) - Peggy Eames was born on 1 February 1918. She was an actress, known for Telling Whoppers (1926), Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926) and Seeing the World (1927). She was married to John N. Schwiegeraht. She died on 3 April 1987 in Oregon, USA.Died: 1987
Peggy Eames 1926-1927 (6 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Bobby Mallon was born on 7 April 1919 in Greybull, Wyoming, USA. He was an actor, known for Free Wheeling (1932), Birthday Blues (1932) and Moan & Groan, Inc. (1929). He died on 10 September 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Robert Howard Mallon
April 7, 1919 in Greybull, Wyoming - September 10, 2008 (age 89) in Los Angeles, California
Bobby Mallon 1926-1932 (13 shorts)- Mildred Gene Kornman was the daughter of German-born still photographer Eugene Kornman and his wife, the actress Verna Kornman. Eugene was employed on the staff of Harold Lloyd at Hal Roach Studios. His close friendship with star comedian Lloyd led to the child being named Mildred, after Lloyd's wife Mildred Davis. The younger sister (by ten years) of the already established child actress Mary Kornman, Mildred began appearing on screen as a toddler and eventually followed in her sister's footsteps as a regular cast member of Our Gang, playing Joe Cobb's sibling. She featured in some 20 episodes of the series between 1926 and 1935, beginning with the two-reel comedy short Thundering Fleas (1926). Mildred also worked as a bit part player and extra (frequently for 20th Century Fox) on and off between 1930 and 1962.
Mildred was educated at Hollywood High School (graduating in 1943) and later attended UCLA where she majored in English, Spanish and art. She began to freelance as a photographic model from the age of sixteen, some of her income used in support of her family during the depression years. Married at eighteen and having changed her name to Ricki VanDusen, she now concentrated increasingly on her new career path as a leading fashion model, soon featuring on the cover of prestigious American magazines, such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and in advertising campaigns for top shelf cosmetics firms like Elizabeth Arden, Revlon and Helena Rubenstein. In 1968, she set up her own business, the fashion boutique Van Dusen-Green Inc. in Encino, California. In the wake of her acting career, she also emulated her father by taking up professional photography.
Fully retired at 89, Mildred/Ricki resided on a secluded ranch in Utah and passed away seven years later in August 2022, one of the very last survivors from the age of silent cinema.July 10, 1925 in California
Millie 1926-1935 (21 shorts) - Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Having toured the world with husband, Kajar the Magician's Show 'Magicadabr', Jean Darling settled in Dublin and became an author of dozens of short mysteries for Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazines and Horror Fantasy for Whispers Magazine, etc. In 1980 she became Aunty Poppy (named for her home State flower) writing and telling over 450 children's story on both RTE radio and TV. Jean has also written several radio plays broadcast on RTE.August 23, 1922 in Santa Monica, California
Jean Darling 1927–1929 (35 shorts)- Harry Spear was born on 16 December 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Flying Horseman (1926), School Begins (1928) and Raisin' Cain (1926). He died on 22 September 2006 in San Diego, California, USA.Harry Sherman Bonner
December 16, 1921 in Los Angeles, California - September 22, 2006 (age 84) in San Diego, California (kidney cancer)
Harry Spear 1927–1929 (31 shorts) - Andy Shuford was born on 16 December 1917 in Helena, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Law of the North (1932), Ghost City (1932) and Ten Years Old (1927). He died on 19 May 1995 in Monteagle, Tennessee, USA.William Shuford
December 16, 1917 in Helena, Arkansas - May 19, 1995 (age 77) in Monteagle, Tennessee
Andy Shuford 1927-1929 (7 shorts) - Johnny Aber was born on 24 August 1916 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Yale vs. Harvard (1927), The Smile Wins (1928) and Ten Years Old (1927). He died on 25 October 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.John E. Aber
August 24, 1916 in San Antonio, Texas - October 25, 1999 (age 83) in Los Angeles, California
Johnny Aber 1927-1930 (10 shorts) - Robert E. Hutchins was born March 29th, 1925, in Tacoma, Washington. He was born to James Hutchins and Olga Hutchins (nee Roe). Robert was a very outgoing boy with a charming personality, because friends persuaded James and Olga to go to a Hollywood photographer and get his picture taken. The photographer was impressed by Robert's intelligence, and asked to take a few feet of film of him. The results were so good that the film ended up in the projection room at Hal Roach Studios. Hal Roach decided the boy would be a good addition to his "Our Gang" short films, and signed him to a five year contract.
On his first day at the studio, Robert didn't have an identity for his part in the movies, and he was running around so much that he began to wheeze. Such led to the coining of the "Wheezer" name, one he carried for the rest of his time in Our Gang. Robert played the perky, tag-along little brother that was always anxious to be part of the mischief that the gang was getting into. He played such a part in both the silent films and the talkies.
Jackie Cooper recalls, "You'd go to play with Wheezer, and his father would pull him away, very competitive. I didn't get a satisfactory answer from my mother or grandmother as to why, but he was to be left alone. I guess his father was trying to make him a star or something. Obviously it never happened as it did for Spanky or some of the other kids."
In trying to make Robert a star, his father malnourished him, and isolated him from the other kids when not filming. James had a plan to keep him small and employable by underfeeding him, and wanted to ensure that Bobby and his siblings never learned that normal kids got a lot more to eat than they did. Nobody ever intervened upon the children's behalf. It's made worse by the fact that his plan backfired. While Robert was incredibly photogenic, and had some fine moments on screen, he looked and acted more like the slow-witted, malnourished child he was, as he aged. Sharper boys were given the leading parts, while Robert spent the last portion of his contract as a background player.
After he left Our Gang with 1933's "Mush and Milk", his film career was essentially over -- with an appearance in Pie for Two, Yoo-Hoo, and Strange Roads outside of his Our Gang shorts -- and he did no more acting after that. His mother and father divorced, and he, his brother James, and his mother moved back to Washington. They lived in a household with their grandmother, and Olga's new husband.
Robert got a job as a gas station attendant in 1942, and enrolled as an air cadet sometime in 1943, with speculation being that he enrolled sometime in August. He was very close to completing his advanced flight training, until a very unfortunate event occurred May 17th, 1945, and he perished. He was killed in a mid-air collision while trying to land a North American AT-6D Texan, at Merced Army Air Field Base in California. The other pilot involved received only minor damage, and landed safely.Robert E. Hutchins
March 29, 1925 in Tacoma, Washington - May 17, 1945 (age 20) in Merced, California (plane crash)
Wheezer Hutchins, Horatio 1927–1933 (58 shorts) ***** - Actress
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Mary Ann Jackson was born on January 14, 1923. She was one of the earliest child stars of the twenties and thirties. Although she was better known as one of the child performers from the famed "Our Gang" comedies that are still popular today, Mary Ann began her film career at the age of four in 1927's "Smith's Pony." Although she didn't make any full length motion pictures during 1928, Mary Ann more than made up for it the following year when she appeared in six major pictures such as "Bouncing Babies" and "Lazy Days." After eight films in 1930 and six in 1931, Mary Ann left the film world after "Little Daddy" at the age of eight.January 14, 1923 in Los Angeles, California - December 17, 2003 (age 80) in California (heart attack)
Mary Ann 1928–1931 (32 shorts) ****- Norman 'Chubby' Chaney was born on 18 October 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Business (1931), Shivering Shakespeare (1930) and Pups Is Pups (1930). He died on 29 May 1936 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.Norman Myers Chaney
October 18, 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland - May 29, 1936 (age 21) in Baltimore, Maryland (myocarditis)
Chubby Chaney 1929-1931 (18 shorts) **** - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Jackie Cooper was born John Cooper in Los Angeles, California, to Mabel Leonard, an Italian-American stage pianist, and John Cooper. Through his mother, he was the nephew of actress Julie Leonard, screenwriter Jack Leonard, and (by marriage) director Norman Taurog. Jackie served with the Navy in the South Pacific toward the end of World War II. Then, quietly and without publicity or fanfare, compiled one of the most distinguished peacetime military careers of anyone in his profession. In 1961, as his weekly TV series Hennesey (1959) was enhancing naval recruiting efforts, accepted a commission as a line officer in the Naval Reserve with duties in recruitment, training films, and public relations. Holder of a multi-engine pilot license, he later co-piloted jet planes for the Navy, which made him an Honorary Aviator authorized to wear wings of gold-at the time only the third so honored in naval aviation history. By 1976 he had attained the rank of captain, and was in uniform aboard the carrier USS Constellation for the Bicentennial celebration on July 4. In 1980 the Navy proposed a period of active duty at the Pentagon that would have resulted in a promotion to rear admiral, bringing him even with Air Force Reserve Brigadier General James Stewart. Fresh on the heels of a second directing Emmy, he felt his absence would impact achieving a long-held goal of directing motion pictures, and reluctantly declined. (The opportunity in films never materialized.) Holds Letters of Commendation from six secretaries of the Navy. Was honorary chairman of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation and a charter member of VIVA, the effort to return POW-MIAs from Vietnam. Upon retirement in 1982, he was decorated with the Legion of Merit by Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr.. Other than Stewart, no performer in his industry has achieved a higher uniformed rank in the U.S. military. (Glenn Ford was also a Naval Reserve captain, and director and Captain John Ford was awarded honorary flag rank upon his 1951 retirement from the Naval Reserve).John Cooper Jr.
September 15, 1922 in Los Angeles, California - May 3, 2011 (age 88) in Santa Monica, California
Jackie Cooper 1929-1931 (15 shorts) ****- Douglas Greer was born on 21 May 1921 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for Free Wheeling (1932), Little Daddy (1931) and No Greater Glory (1934). He was married to Doris Greer. He died on 6 January 2016 in Santa Cruz, California, USA.May 21, 1921 in Ottawa, Canada
Turkey Egg 1930-1932 (7 shorts) - Buddy McDonald was born on 1 October 1922 in Coalinga, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Teacher's Pet (1930), Pups Is Pups (1930) and Hook and Ladder (1932). He died on 22 September 2008 in Seal Beach, California, USA.Thomas McDonald
October 1, 1922 in Coalinga, California - September 22, 2008 (age 85) in Seal Beach, California (congestive heart failure)
Buddy, Spike 1930-1932 (4 shorts) - Dorothy DeBorba was born on 28 March 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Love Business (1931), Dogs Is Dogs (1931) and The Stolen Jools (1931). She was married to Max Ferdinand Haberreiter. She died on 2 June 2010 in Walnut Creek, California, USA.Dorothy Adelle DeBorba
March 28, 1925 in Los Angeles, California - June 2, 2010 (age 85) in Walnut Creek, California (emphysema)
Echo DeBorba 1930-1933 (24 shorts) ***** - Donald Haines was born on 9 May 1919 in Seward County, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941), That Gang of Mine (1940) and Kidnapped (1938). He died on 20 February 1943 in North Africa.May 9, 1919 in Seward County, Nebraska - February 20, 1943 (age 23) (killed during WWII)
Donald Haines 1930-1933 (15 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Georgie Billings was born on 3 March 1924 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Third Alarm (1930), Dangerous Intrigue (1936) and King for a Night (1933). He died on 13 November 2009 in Los Angeles, California, USA.March 3, 1924 in New York - November 13, 2009 (age 85) in Los Angeles, California
Georgie Billings 1930-1933 (7 shorts)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard was born on 1 January 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Dogs Is Dogs (1931), Love Business (1931) and Free Wheeling (1932). He was married to Annie. He died on 8 January 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Matthew Beard Jr.
January 1, 1925 in Los Angeles, California - January 8, 1981 (age 56) in Los Angeles, California (pneumonia)
Stymie Beard 1930-1935 (36 shorts) *****- Actress
- Soundtrack
Shirley Jean Rickert won a baby contest in Seattle when she was about 1-1/2 and her mother relocated the entire family to Hollywood, as she was sure she had a child star. Her first movie was How's My Baby? (1930) with Monte Collins and T. Roy Barnes. Shortly after that she went on an interview at the Hal Roach studio and became a part of the "Our Gang" series. She left the Gang to go to Darmour Studios to play Tomboy Tailor with Mickey Rooney and Billy Barty. In subsequent years she worked in more than 100 movies, mostly musicals. When they stopped making major musicals in Hollywood she became a stripper in burlesque and traveled all over the US and Canada ,playing in burlesque theaters and nightclubs. Her mother took care of her daughter while she traveled and, when her mother died, she (for some reason she never figured out) moved to Buffalo, NY - you're either born in Buffalo or you're transferred there, but you don't voluntarily move to Buffalo.March 25, 1926 in Seattle, Washington - February 6, 2009 (age 82) in Saratoga Springs, New York
Shirley Jean 1931 (5 shorts)- Sherwood Bailey was born on 6 August 1923 in Long Beach, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Choo-Choo! (1932), Readin' and Writin' (1932) and The Pooch (1932). He was married to Ruth. He died on 6 August 1987 in Newport Beach, California, USA.August 6, 1923 in Long Beach, California - August 6, 1987 (age 64) in Newport Beach, California (cancer)
Spud Bailey 1931-1932 (9 shorts) - Dickie Jackson was born on 6 August 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Kid from Borneo (1933), Forgotten Babies (1933) and Fish Hooky (1933). He died on 15 November 1993 in Houston, Texas, USA.August 6, 1925 in Los Angeles, California
Dickie Jackson 1931-1933 (10 shorts) - Stunts
- Actor
- Additional Crew
He made his first appearance before the camera at the age of 14 in Douglas Fairbanks's Robin Hood (1922) Young Dave became the National A.A.U. tumbling champion in 1925 and 1926. Still in his teens, he began taking bit parts in films. His big break came in Masked Emotions (1929). It led him to a series of Hal Roach comedies. In 1933 Ajax Pictures signed him as one of the leads in its "Young Friends" series. In the 1930s he played a variety of roles in many B westerns. He was one of the three leads, with with Charles Quigley and Bruce Bennett, in the Republic Pictures serial Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939). While at Republic he met stuntman Yakima Canutt and began doing stunt work. Dave doubled for almost every western lead at Republic and also some of the ladies. In 1942 Monogram Pictures signed him as one of the leads in its Range Busters western series. Dave appeared in three of them: Texas to Bataan (1942), Trail Riders (1942) and Haunted Ranch (1943). Dave joined the US Army Air Corps and and rose to the rank of captain. After his discharge he returned to Hollywood and confined his career mainly to stunt work and second-unit directing. He doubled Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Tony Curtis in all of their action films. He didn't restrict his stunt work to just films, though; he also doubled the leads in such TV series as The F.B.I. (1965), Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951) and many others. He was also seen as the old lady in the wheelchair on The Red Skelton Hour (1951). Dave was inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame in 1970, and in 1978 contracted ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.David Hardin Sharpe
February 2, 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri - March 30, 1980 (age 70) in Altadena, California (Parkinson's disease)
Dave 1931-1936 (5 shorts)- As a youngster his cute round face and red hair made him popular in his neighbourhood. A Paramount film executive suggested he could have a film career so his family moved to Hollywood where in 1929 he became the youngest actor ever put under contract, at the age of 4, to Paramount. Soon after he was given the stage name of Jerry Tucker and immediately became famous at the studio for his ability to recite his lines from memory. He appeared in Our Gang films until 1937 when his final appearance was in Glove Taps. In 1934 he was one of the Our Gang kids to appear with Laurel and Hardy in 'Babes in Toyland'. Outside of the Gang films he worked with Buster Keaton in 'Sidewalks of New York', Clark Gable in 'San Francisco' and Shirley Temple in 'Captain January'. In 1939 he and his mother moved to New York where he auditioned for a number of radio programmes. In 1942 he joined the navy and was wounded when a Japanese kamikaze plane hit the destroyer U.S.S, Sigsbee which he was on. In 1944 he married Myra Heino and had two daughters, Karen Beth and Renee Eve. After the war he studied electrical engineering at college and was employed as an engineer for RCA Global Communications retiring in 1981 and living on Long Island, New York.Jerome H. Schatz
November 1, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois
Jerry Tucker 1931-1938 (18 shorts) - Kendall McComas was born on 29 October 1916 in Holton, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Readin' and Writin' (1932), Choo-Choo! (1932) and Mickey's Whirlwinds (1930). He died on 15 October 1981 in Lake Isabella, California, USA.October 29, 1916 in Holton, Kansas - October 15, 1981 (age 64) in Lake Isabella, California (suicide)
Breezy Brisbane 1932 (8 shorts) - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Dickie Moore made his acting and screen debut at the age of 18 months in the 1927 John Barrymore film The Beloved Rogue (1927) as a baby, and by the time he had turned 10 he was a popular child star and had appeared in 52 films. He continued as a child star for many more years, and became the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first actor to kiss Shirley Temple on screen?" when that honor was bestowed upon him in 1942's Miss Annie Rooney (1942). As with many child actors, once Dickie got older the roles began to dry up. He made his last film in 1952, but was still in the public eye with the 1949 to 1955 TV series Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949). He then retired from acting for a new career in publicity. He later produced industrial shows.John Richard Moore Jr.
September 12, 1925 in Los Angeles, California
Dickie Moore 1932-1933 (8 shorts)- Wally Albright was born on 3 September 1925 in Burbank, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Roll Along, Cowboy (1937), Salvation Nell (1931) and Thunder (1929). He died on 7 August 1999 in Sacramento, California, USA.Walton Algernon Albright
September 3, 1925 in Burbank, California - August 7, 1999 (age 73) in Sacramento, California
Wally Albright 1932-1934 (6 shorts) - Bobbie 'Cotton' Beard was born on 2 August 1930 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was an actor, known for A Lad an' a Lamp (1932), Forgotten Babies (1933) and Birthday Blues (1932). He died on 16 October 1999 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.August 2, 1930 in Los Angeles County, California - October 16, 1999 (age 69) in Los Angeles County, California
Cotton 1932-1934 (5 shorts) - John 'Uh huh' Collum was born on 29 June 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Mush and Milk (1933), The Pinch Singer (1936) and Forgotten Babies (1933). He was married to Lois Rae Collum. He died on 28 August 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA.John Keith Collum
June 29, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois - August 28, 1962 (age 36) in Los Angeles, California (heart attack)
Uh-Huh Collum 1932-1938 (26 shorts) - Art Department
- Actor
- Producer
Forever etched in our minds as the bully with the protruding lip who gave beloved Alfalfa plenty of angst in the "Our Gang" serial shorts, actor Tommy Bond was actually a gentle, benign soul off the set. Born Thomas Ross Bond on September 16, 1926, in Dallas, Texas, he was discovered by a Hal Roach talent scout at the age of five simply walking hand-in-hand down a Dallas street with his mother. Asked to interview in Hollywood, Tommy made the exhausting Depression-era trek by car with his grandmother and was not disappointed. He debuted in the short Spanky (1932), billed simply as "Tommy" and enjoyed a two-year stay. He was released from his initial contract after appearing in Washee Ironee (1934), then struggled with unbilled bits and minor roles in features and in one- and two-reelers for Charley Chase and Monte Collins for the next few years. Roach happened to spot Tommy again in a bratty film role and re-signed him for the popular series, this time as the mean little kid Butch. Starting with Glove Taps (1937), Tommy immortalized himself as every schoolboy's nightmare, the perpetually scowling young thug purposely looking for fights.
Once Tommy outgrew the "Butch" role at age 14, he was left to fend for himself again, taking whatever jobs he could scrape up. He played one of the "Little Peppers" in a series of mild comedies of the early 1940s and rejoined Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer (although playing his constant nemesis on the "Our Gang" series, the two were friends in real life) with the low-budget "Gas House Kids" film series in the early 1950s. In between Tommy served in the Navy during WWII and found "B" feature work with Man from Frisco (1944), which was one of his best roles, The Beautiful Cheat (1945) and Big Town Scandal (1948), among others. Another highlight of his career was playing cub reporter Jimmy Olson in the Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) cliffhangers that starred Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill.
With acting jobs getting scarce, Tommy decided to focus instead on TV production. Avoiding the heartache and serious troubles (i.e., unemployment and substance abuse) suffered by many of his spurned child star alumni (including Switzer), Tommy wisely prepared for his future by attending Los Angeles City College and earning a degree in theater arts from Cal State L.A. in 1951. He worked over two decades as a stage manager and head of props for KTTV-TV in Los Angeles, and another two as stage manager and assistant director at KFSN-TV in Fresno before finally retiring. He was long married (52 years) to wife Polly Bond and had a son, Thomas R. Bond II. He died at age 79 of complications from heart disease. His autobiography "You're Darn Right It's Butch" came out in 1993 detailing his kiddie fame.Thomas Ross Bond
September 16, 1926 in Dallas, Texas - September 24, 2005 (age 79) in Northridge, California (heart disease)
Tommy "Butch" Bond 1932-1940 (27 shorts)- Actor
- Soundtrack
George 'Spanky' McFarland was born on 2 October 1928 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), Bedtime Worries (1933) and Second Childhood (1936). He was married to Paula Jeanne Wilkinson and Doris. He died on 30 June 1993 in Grapevine, Texas, USA.George Robert Phillips McFarland
October 2, 1928 in Dallas, Texas - June 30, 1993 (age 64) in Grapevine, Texas (heart attack)
Spanky McFarland 1932-1942 (95 shorts)- Tommy McFarland was born on 12 November 1930 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Mail and Female (1937), Cousin Wilbur (1939) and The New Pupil (1940). He died on 21 May 1982 in Dallas, Texas, USA.Thomas Emmitt McFarland
November 12, 1930 in Dallas, Texas - May 21, 1982 (age 51) in Dallas, Texas
Tommie 1933-1941 (18 shorts) - Jacqueline Taylor was born on 29 June 1925 in Compton, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Washee Ironee (1934), For Pete's Sake! (1934) and Hi'-Neighbor! (1934). She was married to Jack Fries and Ben Bard. She died on 5 May 2014 in Citrus Heights, California, USA.June 29, 1926 in Compton, California - May 5, 2014 (age 87) in Sacramento, California (alzheimer's disease)
Jane 1934 (5 shorts) - Alvin Buckelew was born on 23 October 1927 in Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Mike Fright (1934), Washee Ironee (1934) and Sprucin' Up (1935). He was married to Josephine G Beltrami. He died on 8 March 1970 in Oregon, USA.October 23, 1927 in Texas - March 8, 1970 (age 42) in Oregon
Alvin 1934-1935 (10 shorts) - Jackie White was born on 15 August 1927 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935) and Washee Ironee (1934). She died on 11 February 2005 in Sonora, California, USA.Jacqueline White
August 15, 1927 in Los Angeles, California
Jackie White 1934-1935 (5 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Scotty Beckett was one of the cutest, most successful child actors of the 1930s and 1940s. His descent into a life of alcoholism, drugs, and crime remains one of the most tragic of Hollywood stories.
Born Scott Hastings Beckett on October 4, 1929, in Oakland, California, he and his family moved to Los Angeles when Scotty was 3 years old. Shortly after arriving in LA, Beckett's father was hospitalized and Scotty would frequently entertain his dad by singing songs. During one such visit, a Hollywood casting director happened to notice the cherubic youngster and told his parents he had movie potential. Scotty made his debut in Gallant Lady (1933) starring Clive Brook and Ann Harding. Scotty played a boy of three in the film, and Dickie Moore played the same character at the age of six. It was the first of several connections between the two child stars. The next year, he filled the hole vacated by Moore in Our Gang, and they later appeared in Heaven Can Wait (1943), portraying Don Ameche's character as a child. He and Moore finally appeared together in Dangerous Years (1947), which was Marilyn Monroe's screen debut.
Scotty appeared in fifteen Our Gang shorts in two years. Hal Roach noted a resemblance to Jackie Coogan and dressed Beckett accordingly, with an oversized cap and turtleneck sweater reminiscent of Coogan's outfit in The Kid (1921). He was paired with George 'Spanky' McFarland as a kind of partnership within the gang, and their sideline observations and wisecracks highlighted the series from 1934 until 1936, just as Porky and Buckwheat sparked the one-reelers from 1936 on.
After leaving Our Gang, Beckett emerged as one of the top child stars of his era, appearing in many films with the top stars of the late '30s and early '40s. Among his major credits were Dante's Inferno (1935) with Spencer Tracy, Anthony Adverse (1936) with Fredric March, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) with Errol Flynn, Conquest (1937) with Greta Garbo, Marie Antoinette (1938) with Norma Shearer, My Favorite Wife (1940) with Cary Grant, and Kings Row (1942) with Claude Rains.
In 1943 Scotty began attending Los Angeles High School and was named treasurer of his freshman class. He also appeared on Broadway that same year in the play "Slightly Married", receiving the only favorable notices of the production, and also played Junior in the hit radio show "The Life of Riley". Adolescence did not slow down his film career, as Scotty continued to win roles in such movies as My Reputation (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck and, most notably, The Jolson Story (1946), wherein he played the young Al Jolson.
He enrolled at USC but dropped out when he began receiving more offers from MGM, beginning with Cynthia (1947) with Elizabeth Taylor, A Date with Judy (1948), again with Taylor and Jane Powell (the future Mrs. Dickie Moore), Battleground (1949) with Van Johnson, Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), again with Powell, and The Happy Years (1950) with fellow child stars Dean Stockwell and Darryl Hickman.
At around the same time, Scotty began to gain notoriety for his nocturnal activities. Part of the young Hollywood set, Beckett was a fixture at parties and would frequently be seen with young stars like Roddy McDowall, Jane Powell, Elizabeth Taylor, and Edith Fellows. His nightlife seemed to become more of a priority than his burgeoning acting career, and it started a trend of reckless, irresponsible behaviors which plagued Beckett the rest of his life. Early success without any sacrifice often breeds a sense of entitlement and a lack of responsibility or consequence. This seems to be an overriding theme, as Beckett began making headlines most Hollywood stars try to avoid.
In 1948 he was arrested for drunk driving after he crashed into another car after attending a frat party where he had "five bourbons". Scotty tried to run from the booking office after being arrested and refused to surrender his possessions. In September of 1949, he eloped with tennis star Beverly Baker. Right from the start, Scotty showed signs that he was not ready for marriage. On their honeymoon in Acapulco, Beckett allegedly threatened to punch a pool bystander in the nose. The couple separated after 5 months of marriage, divorcing in June of 1950. Newspapers covered the divorce, citing Baker's allegations of Beckett's jealousy and controlling, abusive behavior. Scotty tried to get Baker to quit tennis and stop seeing her parents. He also warned her never to have a soft drink "with any boy or man between 6 and 60".
In 1951, Becket met actress Sunny Vickers. Shortly after they began dating , Vickers became pregnant. They married in Phoenix on June 27, 1951, and five months later Scott Hastings Beckett, Jr. was born. The bad publicity of the divorce from Baker plus the forced marriage to Vickers in the conservative 1950s immediately made Beckett a Hollywood outcast. Between 1952 and 1954, Scotty landed only two roles, in relatively minor films, You're Only Young Twice (1952) and Hot News (1953). He was beginning to get desperate.
In early 1954, Beckett landed the role of "Winky" in a low-budget sci-fi show called Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954), which today has become a cult classic. However, as former co-stars and ex-friends such as Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Powell emerged as bonafide film stars of the 1950s, a supporting role in a fledgling, unproven industry likely was extremely frustrating for Scotty.
In February of that year, the Cavalier Hotel in Hollywood was robbed of a little more than $130 in cash. The bandit pistol-whipped the desk clerk and disappeared with the loot, or so police thought. Passed out drunk in the basement of the hotel, armed with a gun and a knife, was Scotty Beckett. He was arrested and charged with possession of a weapon, but not with robbery because the money was not found and the clerk could not positively identify the former star as the robber.
After posting bail, Beckett, with his wife and three-year-old son, fled to Mexico. He checked into a Tampico hotel under the name of Sean Bullock, giving Carmel, California as his address. There were two bullet holes in his car that Beckett said were from a gang who tried to rob him south of Juarez.
After running out of cash and options, Scotty wrote several checks on a nonexistent bank to different merchants. After Mexican authorities tracked him to a Ciudad Victoria hotel, he attempted to sneak himself and his family out of the hotel and got into a gunfight with the Mexican police in which 20 shots were exchanged. Miraculously, no one was killed, and Scott and Sunny were eventually captured. Scott Jr. was sent back to Los Angeles.
Scotty served only four months in a Mexican jail before returning to the US in September of 1954. He surrendered to authorities for the weapons charge, pleaded guilty, and amazingly was given only three years' probation. He told newspapers he saw this as an opportunity to pick up the pieces and start over with a clean slate, but it was too little, too late. He was dropped from the Rocky Jones series and replaced with Jimmy Lydon (with whom Beckett had appeared in Cynthia (1947)). A little more than a month later, Beckett was arrested in Las Vegas, once again for bouncing a check.
Scotty re-enrolled at USC to study medicine, but when Our Gang was reissued for TV in 1955 as The Little Rascals, Beckett saw an opportunity to make a comeback in the movies. He appeared in Three for Jamie Dawn (1956) and had walk-ons in The Oklahoman (1957) with Joel McCrea, and Monkey on My Back (1957) with Cameron Mitchell. He proved he could still act and exhibit that same youthful charm, appearing perfectly at ease on camera, particularly in his small role as a Navy corpsman with the Marine Corps in Monkey on My Back (1957). But just when it seemed as though a comeback might happen, Scotty self-destructed again.
In February of 1957, he was caught at a Mexican-US border crossing trying to bring illegal drugs into the US. He said the pills were for his wife, whom he claimed had a nervous ailment. In reality, Sunny Vickers was suffering from alcoholism and had checked herself into Metropolitan State Hospital for treatment. She filed for divorce in August of 1957. After Sunny was awarded custody of Scott Jr., Beckett attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills. He recovered but realized he was finished as an actor. He tried his hand at selling used cars, among other things. He still had his charm, but he could not stay out of trouble.
In April of 1959, Beckett was arrested on a charge of drunk driving. In August of that same year, he was arrested for driving drunk again, but this time he did not emerge unscathed. He smashed his '52 sedan into a tree, fracturing his skull, thigh, and hip and suffering multiple lacerations to his head. Although he was given probation and a suspended sentence, he remained crippled for the rest of his life.
In September of 1963, he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Now confined to a wheelchair from the near-fatal drunk driving accident, he attempted to stab his neighbor after a dispute. Scotty's wife of two years, Margaret, a divorcée with a teenage daughter named Susan, assisted in breaking up the fight. Three days later Beckett tried to kill himself by slashing his wrists. He recovered from this second suicide attempt, but by that time Margaret had had enough and moved out, taking Susan with her. As she was moving her belongings out, Scotty tried to stop her. He hit Susan over the head with a crutch that he now used after his car accident and was again arrested. He vowed to the judge at his sentencing "never to drink again".
After that, Scotty stayed out of the headlines for a few years. In 1967 he found employment driving an ambulance, perhaps to be close to the prescription drugs to which he was addicted, perhaps to try to revive his interest in becoming a doctor, perhaps to try to forget that he had once graced the screen with Hollywood's biggest stars before his own star had plummeted to earth, or perhaps because he had run out of alternatives.
On May 8, 1968, he checked into the Royal Palms Hotel, a Hollywood nursing home, after suffering a beating in what may have been a drug deal gone wrong. Two days later, he was dead from an overdose of barbiturates; his third suicide attempt was successful. He left behind a note, a son, and some wonderful films and memories.
Leonard Maltin summed it up best when he wrote, "It was a particularly sad end for someone who, as a child, had shown so much easy charm and talent." Scotty Beckett was not the first child star casualty, and he would not be the last, but his story is certainly one of the saddest.Scott Hastings Beckett
October 4, 1929 in Oakland, California - May 10, 1968 (age 38) in Los Angeles, California (overdose of barbiturates)
Scotty Beckett 1934-1936 (15 shorts)- Leonard Kibrick was born on 6 September 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for It's a Wonderful World (1939), Dimples (1936) and Hill Street Blues (1981). He died on 4 January 1993 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.September 6, 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota - January 4, 1993 (age 68) in Rancho Mirage, California (cancer)
Leonard 1934-1936 (9 shorts) - Actress
- Soundtrack
Marianne Edwards was born on 4 December 1930 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), The Pinch Singer (1936) and Sprucin' Up (1935). She died on 8 November 2013 in California, USA.December 4, 1930 in Los Angeles, California
Marianne, Daisy Dimple, Marianne Jones 1934-1936 (7 shorts)- Donald Proffitt was born on 13 January 1930 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), Sprucin' Up (1935) and Little Sinner (1935). He died on 30 August 1985 in San Diego, California, USA.Donald Proffit
January 13, 1930 in Los Angeles, California - August 30, 1985 (age 55) in San Diego, California
Donald Proffitt 1934-1937 (16 shorts) - Barbara Goodrich was born on 23 September 1927 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for For Pete's Sake! (1934), Fishy Tales (1937) and The Pinch Singer (1936). She died on 8 December 2009 in the USA.September 23, 1927 in Los Angeles, California
Barbara Goodrich 1934-1937 (10 shorts) - Joe Levine was born on 15 April 1927 in California, USA. He was an actor, known for Cousin Wilbur (1939), Washee Ironee (1934) and The Pigskin Palooka (1937). He died on 14 February 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Joe Levine 1934-1939 (10 shorts)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Billie Thomas was an African-American child actor who was best-known for appearing in the "Our Gang" film series from 1934 to its end in 1944.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Thomas auditioned for an "Our Gang" role when he was three years old. He was cast as a background player in the short films "For Pete's Sake!", "The First Round-Up", and "Washee Ironee", all from 1934.
With the short film "Mama's Little Pirate" (1935), Thomas became the third actor to portray the character "Buckwheat", who had at first been depicted as a bowed-pigtailed female character at first, portrayed by Carlena Beard (1929-1972) and Willie Mae Walton (1918-2018); Thomas was effectively cross-dressing for the role. Buckwheat eventually became a more masculine character, and was first credited as male in "The Pinch Singer" (1936). He gained an entirely-new costume for "Pay as You Exit" (1936), where he played a slave in search of a master. Thomas kept this new look--overalls, striped shirt, oversized shoes, and a large, unkempt Afro--for the duration of playing this role, until 1944.
Thomas performed in "Our Gang" for 10 years. During this time, he was only absent for a single film, "Feed 'em and Weep" (1938), because he was ill. His character was paired with that of Eugene "Porky" Lee: they were "the little kids" who outsmarted "the big kids": George "Spanky" McFarland and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer.
As a young child, Thomas had a speech impediment; this was transferred to his character and used as a comic device. Both Buckwheat and Porky spoke in "garbled dialogue" and pronounced "OK" as "O-tay!"
The series' original short films were produced by Hal Roach Studios, but production was taken over by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. From 1938 to 1944, MGM produced 52 "Our Gang" short films and Thomas was the only cast member to appear in all of them. He was the only holdover from the Hal Roach era to remain in the series until its end.
Thomas' team-up with Eugene Lee ended when Lee was replaced by new cast member Robert Blake. By 1940 Thomas had outgrown his speech impediment, and Buckwheat started speaking clearly as well. The series' final film was "Dancing Romeo" (1944), and Thomas was 12 years old during its production.
While Buckwheat became synonymous with the "pickaninny" stereotype of African-American children, Thomas himself was well-liked for being depicted as a playmate and equal to the white children of the series. "Our Gang" featured a desegregated cast during the Jim Crow Era.
Thomas largely retired from acting following the 1940s. He served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956 and received both a National Defense Service Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. Following his discharge, Thomas was offered new acting roles but he rejected them. He viewed an acting career as "a rat race ... with no security". Instead, he chose a more modest career as a film lab technician for the Technicolor corporation.
In the summer of 1980, surviving "Our Gang" cast members appeared in the second annual meeting of the fraternal organization the Sons of the Desert (named after a Laurel and Hardy film). Thomas received a spontaneous standing ovation by 500 fans, and cried in response. On October 10, 1980, he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 49 years old.
Thomas was survived by his son William Thomas Jr. In 1992, the younger Thomas created the Buckwheat Memorial Scholarship for students of California State Northridge University. The scholarship was named in honor of his father and his best-known role.William Thomas Jr.
March 12, 1931 in Los Angeles, California - October 10, 1980 (age 49) in Los Angeles, California (heart attack)
Buckwheat Thomas 1934-1944 (92 shorts)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Eugene 'Porky' Lee was born on 25 October 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Awful Tooth (1938), Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) and Canned Fishing (1938). He died on 16 October 2005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Gordon Eugene Lee
October 25, 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas - October 16, 2005 (age 71) in Minneapolis, Minnesota (lung and brain cancer)
Porky 1935-1939 (43 shorts)- Sidney Kibrick was born on 2 July 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), The Pinch Singer (1936) and Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935).July 2, 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Woim 1935-1939 (26 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Carl Switzer was an American child actor, singer, dog breeder, and hunting guide from Paris, Illinois. He became famous for portraying Alfalfa in the film series "Our Gang" during the 1930s. His character was one of the most memorable characters ever portrayed in the series. Later in his career, Switzer's acting roles were limited to bit parts and appearances in B-movies. He supported himself through other lines of work. Switzer was fatally shot by an acquaintance over a money dispute. The circumstances of his death are disputed, due to contradictory accounts by the shooter and by an eyewitness.
In 1927, Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois. A small city located about 165 miles (266 kilometers) south of Chicago and 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of Indianapolis. Switzer was the youngest of four children born to George Frederick "Fred" Switzer (1905-1960) and his wife Gladys Carrie Shanks (1904-1997). Switzer's older brother was the child actor Harold Switzer (1925-1967).
In the early 1930s, the Switzer brothers were locally famous in their hometown for their music performances. In 1934, the Switzer family traveled to California. They visited the Hal Roach Studios (1914-1961) while sightseeing. The Switzer brothers gave an impromptu performance in the the Our Gang Café, the studio's open-to-the-public cafeteria. They were both offered contracts by producer Hal Roach (1892 -1992), who wanted them to appear in the film series "Our Gang" (1922-1944). The long-running series featured a large group of child actors.
Switzer made his film debut in the "Our Gang" short film "Beginner's Luck" (1935), where his character performs as the "Arizona Nightingale". By the end of the year, Alfalfa (Switzer) had become one of the series' main characters. His brother Harold was relegated to performing background characters in the series. In 1937, Switzer surpassed George McFarland in popularity. At the time, McFarland was the nominal star of the "Our Gang" series. Switzer had a difficult relationship with his co-stars, as he enjoyed playing cruel jokes on them.
Switzer's performances in "Our Gang" ended in 1940. His last appearance as Alfalfa was in the short film "Kiddie Kure" (1940), where the gang members attempted to convince a hypochondriac that his pills were unnecessary. Switzer was 12-years-old at the time of the film's production, making him the oldest member of the main cast. The production team considered him too old to keep playing a child.
Switzer initially found more work in films of the time. He played a young boy scout in the comedy film "I Love You Again" (1940). He next appeared in "Barnyard Follies" (1940), a B-Movie depicting efforts to raise funds for a rural orphanage. Switzer had a leading role in the comedy film "Reg'lar Fellers" (1941), a feature-film adaptation of the long-running comic strip "Reg'lar Fellers" (1917-1949) by Gene Byrnes.
Switzer was reduced to a supporting role in "Henry and Dizzy" (1942), his first appearance in the-then popular film series about the Aldrich Family (1939-1944). The films were adaptations of a long-running radio sitcom of the same name, which lasted from 1939 to 1953. Switzer played a younger member of the Twine family in "There's One Born Every Minute" (1942), a comedy about false advertising. The Twine family profits from marketing their puddings as containing the fantastic Vitamin Z, with the press failing to realize that this vitamin does not exist. A local scientist is persuaded to act as a shill for their product.
Switzer had a minor role in the musical comedy "Johnny Doughboy" (1942), which featured a plot about fictionalized versions of "has-been" child stars. Several other real-life former child stars had roles in this film, including Baby Sandy, Bobby Breen, and George McFarland. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score.
Switzer had the uncredited role of Auggie in "The Human Comedy" (1943), a comedy-drama film about life in the home front of World War II. His character was a friend of Ulysses Macauley (played by Jackie Jenkins). Over the following few years, Switzer would frequently appear in uncredited roles, in films such as "Going My Way" (1944) and "Courage of Lassie" (1946).
Switzer had his first leading role in years when cast as Sammy Levine in "Gas House Kids" (1946). The film depicted the life of unruly youths from the Gas House District of New York City. It was partly inspired by the forced relocation of the District's residents in the 1940s, to make way for an urban renewal project. About 600 buildings were razed, and 3,100 families were forced to relocate. The real-life tragic conditions had inspired the popular culture of the time. The film was successful enough to have its own sequels, "Gas House Kids Go West" (1947) and The "Gas House Kids in Hollywood" (1947). Switzer had leading roles in both sequels, his last leading roles in any film.
During the 1950s, Switzer had a few significant supporting roles in films. He played a co-pilot in the aviation adventure "Island in the Sky" (1953), a pilot in the disaster film "The High and the Mighty" (1954), and a Native American ranch hand in the Western film "Track of the Cat" (1954). He had a minor part in the comedy film "Dig That Uranium" (1956), where the Bowery Boys seek an uranium mine in the Wild West. Switzer also had several appearances in television, serving as a recurring guest star in "The Roy Rogers Show".
Switzer's film career was not particularly lucrative during his adult years. He supplemented his income by breeding and training hunting dogs, and by serving as a guide to hunting expeditions. His most notable clients were Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda. In 1954, Switzer married his girlfriend Diantha "Dian" Collingwood (1930-2004). She was the heiress of the company Collingwood Grain, which specialized in the construction of grain elevators. The marriage was a rather hasty decision, as the couple had only met 3 months prior to the wedding.
In 1956, Switzer was broke and his wife Dian was pregnant. Switzer's mother-in-law offered them the administration of a farm near Pretty Prairie, Kansas, and Switzer took the offer. His only, son Justin Lance Collingwood Switzer, was born later that year. Switzer had a reunion with his former co-star George McFarland in 1957. McFarland recalled that Switzer seemed restless, and he got the impression that Switzer was bored with his life as a farmer. He figured that this life "wasn't going to last" for Switzer.
Switzer received a divorce in 1957, and lost custody of his son. In January 1958, Switzer was mysteriously shot in the upper right arm while sitting in his parked car, in front of a bar in Studio City, Los Angeles. The bullet smashed through the car's window. The shooter was never found, and no motive was ever established.
In December 1958, Switzer was arrested by the authorities. He had been cutting trees in the Sequoia National Forest, with the intention to sell them as Christmas trees. This practice was illegal. He was sentenced to pay a fine of 225 dollars, and was also sentenced to one year's probation. This left him in financial trouble for the last month of his life.
In 1959, Switzer was hired to train a hunting dog by Moses Samuel "Bud" Stiltz. Switzer and Stiltz had been business associates for years, having met each other at the Corriganville Movie Ranch. During the dog's training, the dog ran off to chase after a bear. Stiltz demanded that Switzer had to either relocate his dog or pay him the equivalent of the dog's value. Switzer placed a reward for the relocation of the dog and the safe return of the animal. When the dog was found, Switzer rewarded the rescuer with 35 dollars in cash, and the worth of 15 dollars in alcoholic beverages. The reward money pushed Switzer further into poverty.
In late January, 1959, Switzer had an emotional conversation about his financial troubles with photographer Jack Piott. The two figured that Stiltz had to reimburse Switzer for the finder's fee. The two of them headed together to Stiltz's home in Mission Hills, where they got into an argument with him. After being struck on the left side of his head, Stiltz proceeded to threaten the two men with a loaded a .38-caliber revolver.
What happened next is uncertain. Stiltz testified that Switzer pulled a knife on him, and that he had shot him in self-defense. Tom Corrigan (Stiltz's adolescent stepson) later testified that Switzer had decided to end the fight and to leave empty-handed, but Stiltz shot him anyway. In any case, the bullet damaged one of Switzer's arteries and caused massive internal bleeding. Switzer had already died by the time his body was transferred to a hospital. He was 31-years-old at the time of his death.
Switzer was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, located in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. His gravestone depicts the image of a hunting dog, to commemorate that he trained hunting dogs for a living. His death initially attracted little attention from the press, but the controversial circumstances of his death have become the subject of true-crime articles and documentaries. Switzer is still remembered as one of the better child actors of his era, and as a reliable actor in supporting roles.Carl Dean Switzer
August 7, 1927 in Paris, Illinois - January 21, 1959 (age 31) in Mission Hills, California (homicide)
Alfalfa Switzer 1935-1940 (61 shorts)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Harold Switzer was born on 16 January 1925 in Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), Pay As You Exit (1936) and Reunion in Rhythm (1937). He was married to Beverly Osso. He died on 14 April 1967 in Glendale, California, USA.Harold Frederick Switzer
January 16, 1925 in Illinois - April 14, 1967 (age 42) in Glendale, California (suicide)
Slim aka Deadpan 1935-1940 (27 shorts)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Darla Hood was born in the small town of Leedey, Oklahoma on November 8, 1931. Hood began her association with "Our Gang" at the tender age of 2 1/2, as she stated on the The Jack Benny Program (1950). Her father, James Claude Hood Jr., a banker, and especially her mother, Elizabeth Davner Hood, prodded their daughter's musical talents with singing and dancing lessons in Oklahoma City. She made an unscheduled, impromptu singing debut at Edison Hotel in Times Square when the band-leader invited her onto the stage, and the crowd roared in appreciation. By sheerest coincidence, Joe Rivkin, (an agent of Hal Roach) spotted the four year old scene stealer, screen tested her & signed her to a long-term (7 year) contract at $75 weekly.
Darla went on to perform as the leading "Rascals" actress in 51 of the popular short films plus a television movie. She recalled finding her off-camera time on set as lonely as the boys tended to group together and play such "boys" games as baseball and football. At the beginning of her association with the "Little Rascals", she appeared opposite Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in one of their handful of feature films, The Bohemian Girl (1936). Darla Hood's tenure as most popular "Little Rascals" actress, began in 1935's Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935) and her finale, Wedding Worries (1941). Then, almost 40 years later, during the last four months of her life, she voiced her "Little Rascals" character with the animated off-screen special, The Little Rascals' Christmas Special (1979). She did not live to see it televised.
While very few of the "Our Gang" shorts were made during World War II due to the scarcity of film (a majority of them were saved for feature-length wartime propaganda films), by the time the series was to be finally revived in 1945, she had already outgrown her role. She had some trouble dealing with the inevitable transition into a teen actor and her career faltered badly. She graduated with honors from Fairfax High School (Hollywood). She found some work with Ken Murray's popular "Blackbirds" variety show on the Los Angeles stage as well as some behind-the-scenes work in the post-war years.
With her first husband, Robert W. Decker (whom she married when she was 17 years old), she formed the vocal group "Darla Hood and the Enchanters", which provided incidental background music for such classic films as A Letter to Three Wives (1949). She also made appearances in nightclubs and on television variety shows, The Ken Murray Show (1950), The Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue (1949), and she was also performed & or sang songs, on a few Merv Griffin's radio programs. Another successful outlet for her was in the field of voice-over work in cartoons and commercials "Chicken of the Sea" was her longest lasting commercial tenure, as the mermaid. She also did some "Campbell's Soup" commercials, at the same time, but fewer. In time, she became a well-oiled impressionist and trick voice artist.
In June of 1957, at the age of 25, she divorced her first husband after eight years of marriage and by whom she had her first two children (one son, Brett, and one daughter, Darla Jo). She promptly married her former manager, Jose Granson, a musical publisher. She and Granson had three children together. Hood remained small in show business until her untimely end, which came on Wednesday, June 13, 1979, when she died of congestive heart failure. She had recently had an appendectomy at Canoga Park Hospital, during which she received a blood transfusion. The transfusion caused her to contract acute hepatitis, which led to her heart failure. She passed away at a Hollywood hospital. Following her funeral, she was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, later renamed Hollywood Forever.Darla Jean Hood
November 8, 1931 in Leedey, Oklahoma - June 13, 1979 (age 47) in Hollywood, California (acute hepatitis)
Darla Hood 1935-1941 (50 shorts)- Gloria Browne was born on 7 August 1929 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Marihuana (1936), The Little Red Schoolhouse (1936) and It Never Rains (1935). She died on 24 February 1993 in the USA.August 7, 1929 in San Francisco, California
Gloria Brown 1936-1939 (9 shorts) - Gary Jasgur was born on 8 November 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Aladdin's Lantern (1938), Feed 'em and Weep (1938) and Framing Youth (1937). He was married to Deanne Eisenberg. He died on 22 August 1994 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Melvyn Gary Jasgur
November 8, 1935 in Los Angeles, California - August 22, 1994 (age 58) in Los Angeles, California
Junior 1937-1939 (15 shorts) - Hugh Chapman was born on 23 December 1927 in Hillrose, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for The Pigskin Palooka (1937), Glove Taps (1937) and Clown Princes (1939). He died on 22 November 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.1927 in Hillrose, Colorado
Hugh Chapman 1937-1939 (5 shorts) - Darwood retired from acting in his teens. He became a Seventh-day Adventist minister. As such he spent 17 years in Thailand. At the time of his death he was part time pastor at La Sierra University Seventh-day Adventist Church in Riverside.Darwood Kenneth Smith
September 8, 1929 in Fort Collins, Colorado - May 15, 2002 (age 72) in Riverside, California (struck by hit-and-run driver)
Waldo 1937-1940 (21 shorts) - Shirley Coates was born on 28 July 1927 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was an actress, known for Clown Princes (1939), Three Smart Boys (1937) and How We Used to Live (1968). She died on 26 July 2020 in Orange, California, USA.1927 in Canada - August 14, 1979 (age 52) in British Columbia, Canada
Muggsy 1937-1940 (7 shorts) - Leonard 'Percy' Landy was born on 2 July 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Aladdin's Lantern (1938), Joy Scouts (1939) and Dad for a Day (1939). He died on 26 July 2017 in Palm Desert, California, USA.July 2, 1933 in Los Angeles, California
Percy 1938-1941 (21 shorts) - Freddie Chapman was born on 18 January 1931 in Brush, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Corpus Christi Bandits (1945), Great Stagecoach Robbery (1945) and My Dog Shep (1946). He died on 12 January 2001 in Turlock, California, USA.1931 in Hillrose, Colorado
Bully 1939-1943 (9 shorts) - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
American actor who began as a child in Our Gang comedies and reappeared as a powerful adult performer of leading and character roles. Born in New Jersey, the young Mickey Gubitosi won a role in MGM's Our Gang series at the age of 5. As one of the more prominent children in the Gang, he gained attention for his cute good looks and his lovable, if somewhat melancholy, personality.
In 1940 he took on the stage name Bobby Blake (though he continued to use the name Mickey Gubitosi in the Our Gang series for another three years) and began playing child roles in a wide range of films. He gained a good deal of fame as the Indian sidekick Little Beaver in the Red Ryder series of Westerns. Though roles were sporadic as he grew to manhood, he was never long off the screen (except for a period of military service, 1954-56). But despite some fine work in films like Pork Chop Hill (1959) and Town Without Pity (1961), his career did not take off until his stunning portrayal of killer Perry Smith in In Cold Blood (1967). A number of telling performances in films of the next decade, stardom in a popular television series (Baretta (1975), and several ruefully comic appearances as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) made him a popular figure even as his personal difficulties increased.
Consumed with anger over his treatment by his family and the studio as a child, he denigrated his early work, suffered bouts of difficulty with drugs, and became known as a difficult, perfectionist person to work with. He quit his successful TV series Hell Town (1985) when his personal demons became overwhelming. After a self-imposed exile of nearly eight years, during which he struggled to right his life, he successfully returned to films and television work, appearing renewed and more confident in himself and his work.
In 2001, though, the murder of his wife, Bonnie Bakley, thrust Blake into the limelight in a different way. Admittedly having married Bakley through the coercion of her pregnancy, a routine Bakley had apparently tried with various other celebrities, Blake made no denial of his distaste for the woman, but was by all accounts thrilled with the daughter born to them. Blake was arrested for his wife's murder, but the presumption of innocence trumped when jurors didn't believe what they thought was flimsy evidence, and Blake was acquitted in a trial that made worldwide headlines. Reportedly broke from legal costs, Blake indicated hopefulness that he might be allowed to return to acting work.Michael James Vincenzo Gubitosi
September 18, 1933 in Nutley, New Jersey
Mickey Gubitosi 1939-1944 (40 shorts)- His mother enrolled him in a dramatic class to overcome his self-consciousness. His gravel voice was exploited by an MGM talent scout. After his test and positive public reaction he was signed to a term contract to Our Gang. His favorite sport was bicycling. After Our Gang was over, Froggy was riding double on a motorized scooter with a friend delivering newspapers on a old three-lane highway in La Puente. Froggy was the passenger, his friend 'John Wilbrand' was driving and did a sudden U-turn into the front of a truck that hit and ended up killing Froggy who died around 6 hours later in the hospital. Froggy's friend John Wilbrand who was driving only suffered minor injuries. His older brother Tom said that he was just a normal type of kid in high school, doing well, when this accident occurred. After the gang, he did try out in some feature films, but he told his mother he wasn't interested in continuing with that. So his career in movies came to an end.William Robert Laughlin
July 5, 1932 in San Gabriel, California - August 31, 1948 (age 16) in La Puente, California (road accident)
Froggy Laughlin 1940-1944 (29 shorts) - Actress
- Soundtrack
Janet Burston was born on 11 January 1935 in Alameda, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Calling All Kids (1943), Ginger (1946) and Blondie Goes Latin (1941). She died on 3 March 1998 in Fresno, California, USA.Janet Elizabeth Burston
January 11, 1935 in Canada - March 3, 1998 (age 63) in California (cancer)
Janet Burston 1940-1944 (16 shorts)- Mickey Laughlin was born on 20 July 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Family Troubles (1943), Benjamin Franklin, Jr. (1943) and Election Daze (1943). He died on 4 December 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Gordon Price Laughlin
July 20, 1936 in Los Angeles, California - December 4, 1996 (age 60) in Los Angeles, California
Happy Laughlin 1941-1943 (5 shorts) - William Gillespie was born on 24 January 1894 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Stop, Look and Listen (1926), Her Dangerous Path (1923) and The Valley of Bravery (1926). He was married to Ann Monahan. He died on 23 June 1938 in Los Angeles, California, USA.January 24, 1894 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland - June 23, 1938 (age 44) in Los Angeles, California
Prince Dalmar El Faro, Mary's Father, Mr. Wallingford, Tilford 1922-1932 (22 shorts) - Chester A. Bachman was born on 12 July 1882 in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Putting Pants on Philip (1927), Fancy Baggage (1929) and Taxi (1931). He died on 14 May 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Chester Arthur Bachman
July 12, 1882 in Wheeling, West Virginia - May 14, 1966 (age 83) in Los Angeles, California
Officer Mulligan, Detective Jinks 1923-1928 (10 shorts) - George B. French was born on 14 April 1883 in Storm Lake, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Won in the Clouds (1928), The Lost Limited (1927) and Tarzan of the Apes (1918). He died on 9 June 1961 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.April 14, 1883 in Storm Lake, Iowa - June 9, 1961 (age 78) in Hollywood, California (heart attack)
Mr. French, Professor Clements, Professor Fleece, Professor Electra, Jackie's Father, Simon Sleazy 1923-1942 (12 shorts) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Gus Leonard was born on 4 February 1859 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was an actor, known for Wurra-Wurra (1916), Her Reputation (1923) and The Girl I Loved (1923). He died on 27 March 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Amédée Théodore Gaston Lerond
February 4, 1859 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France - March 27, 1939 (age 80) in Los Angeles, California
Old Cap, Uncle Gus, Prof. J. Tillingham Hornett 1924-1936 (5 shorts)- David Durand was born on 27 July 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Bad Sister (1931), Little Men (1934) and Scouts to the Rescue (1939). He died on 25 July 1998 in Bridgeview, Illinois, USA.David Parker Grey
July 27, 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio - July 25, 1998 (age 77) in Bridgeview, Illinois
David 1925-1926 (5 shorts) - June Marlowe was born on 6 November 1903 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Pardon Us (1931), The Life of Riley (1927) and Code of the Air (1928). She was married to Rodney Sprigg. She died on 10 March 1984 in Burbank, California, USA.Gisela Valaria Goetten
November 6, 1903 in St. Cloud, Minnesota March 10, 1984 (age 80) in Burbank, California (Parkinson's Disease)
Miss June Crabtree 1930-1932 (8 shorts) - Actress
- Soundtrack
This gorgeous green-eyed blonde was born in Canada to British parents and spent her early childhood attending schools in Canada, England, Boston and Los Angeles (where her father worked as a stage carpenter and set designer). She studied ballet for four years and tap dancing for another at the Maurice Kussell Studio, took singing lessons and learned acting under the tutelage of French-Canadian thespian Joseph De Grasse. She performed in school plays during holidays and made her motion picture debut at the age of ten in A Lady of Quality (1924). At thirteen, Rosina appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's The Angel of Broadway (1927) in which she was also used as a hand double for the star Leatrice Joy. For the next seven years she commuted between vaudeville and film work and earned extra dollars as a Hollywood fashion model. She doubled for Sally Eilers (whom she resembled in looks) in both Dance Team (1932) and Disorderly Conduct (1932) but her roles had up to this point amounted to little more than bit parts and walk-ons. A couple of leads eventually came her way, both in second feature mysteries: Welcome Home (1935), opposite James Dunn and Charlie Chan's Secret (1935), with Warner Oland as the screen's first incarnation of the famous detective. Rosina also had two decent production numbers in MGM's marathon biopic The Great Ziegfeld (1936) (her character, Sally Manners, was based on the stage star Marilyn Miller), but those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Her career was somewhat revived after she was signed by Hal Roach and found a little niche as the school teacher in the "Our Gang" comedy shorts. She also starred several times in slapstick farce as the wife of Charley Chase and with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Way Out West (1937) (allegedly the duo's personal favorite).
Rosina left the acting profession upon her marriage to the Brooklyn lawyer Juvenal Marchisio, a union which produced three children. Marchisio died in 1973 and Rosina didn't remarry until 1987. Her second husband was actor, academic and Laurel & Hardy biographer John McCabe.December 30, 1912 in Westboro, Ontario, Canada - June 23, 1997 (age 84) in New York City (cancer)
Miss Jones 1936-1937 (8 shorts)- Pal the Dog was a very intelligent Rough Collie dog who began his movie career at the age four when he was teamed up with actor Wallace Reid. He would go on to become a favorite of young movie goers throughout the country for almost a decade. Pal died at the age of fourteen in Hollywood.Died:
November 18, 1929 in Hollywood, California (poisoned) - Pete the Dog was born as Pal. He was known for Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925), Bear Shooters (1930), The First Seven Years (1930), and Dog Heaven(1930). He of course is best known for playing Spanky's dog in The Little Rascalls. He died on January 28, 1946 in Los Angeles, Californians, USA.January 22, 1929 – January 28, 1946 (age 17) in Los Angeles, California
Petey 1930-1938 - Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Hal Roach was born in 1892 in Elmira, New York. After working as a mule skinner, wrangler and gold prospector, among other things, he wound up in Hollywood and began picking up jobs as an extra in comedies, where he met comedian Harold Lloyd in 1913 in San Diego. By all accounts, including his own, he was a terrible actor, but he saw a future in the movie business and in Harold Lloyd. Roach came into a small inheritance and began producing, directing and writing a series of short film comedies, under the banner of Phun Philms (soon changed to Rolin, which lasted until 1922), starring Lloyd in early 1915. Initially these were abysmal, but with tremendous effort, the quality improved enough to be nominally financed and distributed by Pathe, which purchased Roach's product by the exposed foot of film. The Roach/Lloyd team morphed through two characters. The first, nominally tagged as "Will E. Work", proved hopeless; the second, "Lonesome Luke," an unabashed imitation of Charles Chaplin, proved more successful with each new release. Lloyd's increasing dissatisfaction with the Chaplin clone character irritated Roach to no end, and the two men engaged in a series of battles, walkouts and reconciliations. Ultimately Lloyd abandoned the character completely in 1917, creating his now-famous "Glasses" character, which met with even greater box-office success, much to the relief of Roach and Pathe. This new character hit a nerve with the post-war public as both the antithesis and complement to Chaplin, capturing the can-do optimism of the age. This enabled Roach to renegotiate the deal with Pathe and start his own production company, putting his little studio on a firm financial foundation. Hal Roach Productions became a unique entity in Hollywood. It operated as a sort of paternalistic boutique studio, releasing a surprising number of wildly popular shorts series and a handful of features. Quality was seldom compromised and his employees were treated as his most valuable asset.
Roach's relationship with his biggest earner was increasingly acrimonious after 1920 (among other things, Lloyd would bristle at Roach's demands to appear at the studio daily regardless of his production schedule). After achieving enormous success with features (interestingly, his only real feature flop of the 1930s was with General Spanky (1936), a very poorly conceived vehicle for the property), Lloyd had achieved superstar status by the standards of "The Roaring Twenties" and wanted his independence. The two men severed ties, with Roach retaining re-issue rights for Lloyd's shorts for the remainder of the decade. While both men built their careers together, it was Lloyd who first recognized his need for creative freedom, no longer needing Roach's financial support. This realization irked Roach, and from this point forward he found it difficult, if not impossible, to offer unadulterated praise for his former friend and star (while Lloyd himself was far more generous in his later praise of Roach, he, too, could be critical, if more accurate, in his recollections). Lloyd went on to much greater financial success at Paramount.
Despite facing the prospect of losing his biggest earner, Roach was already preoccupied with building his kiddie comedy series, Our Gang, which became an immediate hit with the public. By the time he turned 25 in 1917, Roach was wealthy and increasingly spending time away from his studio. He traveled extensively across Europe. By the early 1920s he had eclipsed Mack Sennett as the "King of Comedy" and created many of the most memorable comic series of all time. These included the team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, Edgar Kennedy, 'Snub' Pollard and especially the long-running Our Gang series (AKA "The Little Rascals" in TV distribution). Pathe, which distributed his films, shut down its U.S. operations after its domestic representative, Paul Brunet, returned to France in 1927. But Roach was able to secure an even better deal with MGM (his key competitor, Mack Sennett, was also distributed by Pathe, but he was unable to land a deal, ultimately declaring bankruptcy in 1933). For the next eleven years Roach shored up MGM's bottom line, although the deal was probably more beneficial to Roach. In the mid-'30s Roach became inexplicably enamored of 'Benito Mussolini', and sought to secure a business alliance with the fascist dictator's recently completed film complex, Cinecitta. After Roach asked for (and received) assurances from Mussolini that Italy wasn't about to seek sanctions against the Jews, the two men formed RAM ("Roach And Mussolini") Productions, a move that appalled the powers at MGM parent company, Leow's Inc. These events coincided with Roach selling off "Our Gang" to MGM and committing himself solely to feature film production. In September 1937, Il Duce's son, Vittorio Mussolini, visited Hollywood and Roach's studio threw a lavish party celebrating his 21st birthday. Soon afterward the Italian government took on an increasingly anti-Semitic stance and, in retribution, Leow's chairman Nicholas Schenck canceled his distribution deal. Roach signed an adequate deal with United Artists in May 1938 and redeemed his previous record of feature misfires with a string of big hits: Topper (1937) (and its lesser sequels), the prestigious Of Mice and Men (1939) and, most significantly, One Million B.C. (1940), which became the most profitable movie of the year. Despite the nearly unanimous condemnation by his industry peers, Roach stubbornly refused to re-examine his attitudes over his dealings with Mussolini, even in the aftermath of World War II (he proudly displayed an autographed portrait of the dictator in his home up until his death). His tried-and-true formula for success was tested by audience demands for longer feature-length productions, and by the early 1940s he was forced to try his hand at making low-budget, full-length screwball comedies, musicals and dramas, although he still kept turning out extended two-reel-plus comedies, which he tagged as "streamliners"; they failed to catch on with post-war audiences. By the 1950s he was producing mainly for television (My Little Margie (1952), Blondie (1957) and The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1956), for example). His willingness to delve into TV production flew in the face of most of the major Hollywood studios of the day. He made a stab at retirement but his son, Hal Roach Jr., proved an inept businessman and drove the studio to the brink of bankruptcy by 1959. Roach returned and focused on facilities leasing and managing the TV rights of his film catalog.
In 1983 his company developed the first successful digital colorization process. Roach then became a producer for many TV series on the Disney Channel, and his company still produces most of their films and videos. He died peacefully just shy of his 101st birthday, telling stories right up until the end.Harry Eugene Roach
January 14, 1892 in Elmira, New York - November 2, 1992 (age 100) in Los Angeles, California (pneumonia)
Writer/Producer (95 shorts)