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Clyde Willson
The Our Gang personnel page is a listing of the significant cast and crew from the ''Our Gang'' short subjects film series, originally created and produced by Hal Roach which ran in movie theaters from 1922 to 1944. The series was produced by Hal Roach Studio's from 1922 until 1938, and from 1938 and 1944 by MGM pictures After being purchased by MGM studios, the title was changed to The Little Rascals, for subsequent theatrical re-releases from the Roach-produced era, as well as for syndicated television broadcasts starting from 1955. ''Our Gang'' cast * The series franchise having been produced in various formats, is in general depicted by 3 different eras , The Hal Roach Silent Film era (1922–1929), The Hal Roach Sound era (1929–1938) and the MGM produced era (1938–1944) Hal Roach silent film period 1922–1926 * Ernie Morrison as Sunshine Sammy * Jackie Condon * Mickey Daniels * Allen Hoskins as Farina * Peggy Cartwright * Jack Davis * Mary Kornman (replaced Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Gang
''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the producer of the Laurel and Hardy films, ''Our Gang'' shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. ''Our Gang'' is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way; Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children, rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. The series also broke new ground by portraying white and black children interacting as equals during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States.Leonard Maltin, Maltin, Leonard (1994). ''The Little Rascals: Remastered and Uncut'', vol. 22, introduction. Videorecording. New York: Cabin Fever Entertainment/Hallmark E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scooter Lowry
Elmer Camden Lowry (December 19, 1919 – 1 May 1989) was an American child actor and vaudevillian. He appeared in several '' Our Gang'' short films as Skooter. His character, Washington-born Skooter, was fond of Charles G. Dawes, known for his freckles, hat, and personality. He was dubbed "the original tough guy", due to his mean, harsh "bad boy" persona in the ''Our Gang'' films, at times referred as villainous. Known for his talented dancing, singing, and impersonations, Lowry was most well known for that during his vaudeville days. Early life Lowry was born in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City on December 19, 1919, to Willard S. and Anna L. Lowry. At the age of five, he started in vaudeville. He later moved to Hempstead after his parents divorced. Originally nicknamed Skippy, his nickname became Scooter since "he was always scooting around". Acting career Lowry got his start in '' Our Gang'' after he won a dance contest promoted by Gus Edwards. The award was a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Jean Rickert
Shirley Jean Rickert (March 25, 1926 – February 6, 2009) was an American child actress who was briefly the "blonde girl" for the ''Our Gang'' series in 1931, during the Hal Roach early talkie period. Career At 18 months of age, Rickert won a local baby beauty contest, which emboldened her mother to move the family to Hollywood. She made her screen debut at the age of four in the short ''How's My Baby'' (1930), soon followed by her ''Our Gang'' debut, ''Helping Grandma'' in 1931. Rickert's most notable appearances were in the films ''Love Business'' and ''Bargain Day'', in which her spit-curls, inspired by those of Ruth Taylor (actress), Ruth Taylor's in ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928 film), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', were the centerpiece of her precocious performance. After Rickert left the ''Our Gang'' series, she had a brief movie career, including starring roles as Tomboy Teri Taylor alongside Mickey Rooney in eight Mickey McGuire (film series), ''Mickey McGuire'' c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Beard (American Actor)
Matthew Beard Jr. (January 1, 1925 – January 8, 1981) was an American actor. As a child actor, he was most famous for portraying the character of Stymie in the ''Our Gang'' short films from 1930 to 1935. The role was so high-profile that he adopted the name Stymie Beard, being credited as such in some later roles, such as his 1978 appearance in ''The Buddy Holly Story''. Early life Matthew Beard Jr. was born near Los Angeles, California. His father was Matthew Beard, and his mother was Johnnie Mae Beard (née Clay). His father was the founding pastor of Beloved Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles. ''Our Gang'' years Beard previously played baby parts in many films, then signed a five-year contract to play in ''Our Gang''. In contrast to Farina, the character he replaced, Stymie was a slick-tongued con-artist who always was self-assured, nonchalant, and ready with a sly comment as well as clever ideas to solve the problems he faced. Stymie could offer sound, common sense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy McDonald
Thomas "Buddy"/"Bud" McDonald (October 1, 1922 – September 22, 2008) was an American child actor. He is perhaps best known as one of the ''Our Gang'' kids of the early sound period, and McDonald is prominently featured in the ''Our Gang'' shorts ''Teacher's Pet'' and '' School's Out''. He appeared in several of the ''Our Gang'' comedies, and also appeared in a scene (later deleted) with Laurel & Hardy in ''Pardon Us''. Biography Early career McDonald was discovered when his mother wrote a letter, dictated from his father to Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, in which they enclosed a newspaper article of Buddy's local spelling bee win. They received a phone call from the studio that same week. The studio gave him a screen test and called Buddy to work on his first picture, ''Pups is Pups''. From there, he worked on various bit parts with Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In addition, he sang on ''Juvenile review'', a weekend radio program on KFWB in Los Angeles. He at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Haines
Donald Haines (May 9, 1919 – February 20, 1943) was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1930 to 1933. He appeared in ''Our Gang'' during the early sound days along with Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Jackie Cooper, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, and Dorothy DeBorba. Early years Haines was born in Seward County, Nebraska, the son of Karl and Nola Haines. Their family moved to California when he was 9 years old. ''Our Gang'' Haines's tenure began during the early talkies up through the "Miss Crabtree episodes," and then the early Spanky episodes. He would leave with Jackie Cooper for feature films at Paramount only to return a few months later. He was 11 years old when he joined the gang in 1930. His association with the Our Gang series lasted through 1933. Haines's first short was ''Shivering Shakespeare'', which featured him giggling his way through his lines. He was int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackie Cooper
John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Oscar nomination. Aged nine, he remains the youngest performer ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, an honor that he received for the film '' Skippy'' (1931). For nearly 50 years, Cooper remained the youngest Oscar nominee in any category. Early life John Cooper Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California. Cooper's father, John Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow (née Polito), was a stage pianist. Cooper's maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, was a screenwriter and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman Taurog. Cooper's stepfather was C.J. Bigelow, a studio production manager. His mother was Italian American (her fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Chaney
Norman Myers Chaney (October 18, 1914 – May 29, 1936) was an American child actor, notable for appearing in 19 ''Our Gang'' comedies as "Chubby" from 1929 to 1931. Early life and career Chaney was born on October 18, 1914 (though Richard Bann and Leonard Maltin's book "The Little Rascals: Life & Times of Our Gang stated he was born in 1918) in Cambridge, Maryland, and became a member of ''Our Gang'' at the dawn of the sound era. He relied on an affable personality, a flair for funny dialogue, and a priceless frown of frustration that seemed to swallow up his whole moon face. In fall 1928, ''Our Gang'' producer Hal Roach and director Robert F. McGowan began to look for an overweight child actor to replace Joe Cobb in the popular film series. Cobb was twelve years old, and the series was about to transition to sound film, sound. Roach and McGowan held a nationwide contest to find a replacement for Cobb. Chaney won this contest in early 1929 and was offered a two-year contract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete The Pup
Pete the Pup (original, 1924 – June 1930; second Pete, September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946) was a character in Hal Roach's '' Our Gang'' comedies (later known as ''The Little Rascals'') during the 1930s, otherwise known as "Pete, the dog with the ring around his eye", or simply "Petey". The original Pete (sired by "Tudor's Black Jack") was a UKC registered American Pit Bull Terrier named "Pal, the Wonder Dog", and had a natural ring almost completely around his right eye; dye was used to finish it off. The second Pete was an American Staffordshire Terrier named Lucenay’s Peter. He was well known for having a circled eye which was added by Hollywood make-up artist Max Factor and credited as an oddity in ''Ripley's Believe It or Not''. Career When he was about six months old, Pal the Wonder Dog made an appearance in the Harold Lloyd film '' The Freshman'', in 1925. Pal first started out as "Tige" in the '' Buster Brown'' series in the 1920s. It was during this time th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Ann Jackson
Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923 – December 17, 2003) was an American child actress who appeared in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1928 to 1931. She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. Career Mary Ann Jackson's film career began under the shadow of her actor relatives, mother Charlotte Jackson (1891–1992) and older sister, "Peaches" Jackson (1913–2002). Peaches had a fairly prolific stint as a child actress, working with such stars as Rudolph Valentino and D.W. Griffith in full-length features. Jackson made her film debut in a 1925 Ruth Taylor short, ''Dangerous Curves Behind''. Her first big break came in the short-subject series ''The Smith Family''. These 20-minute Mack Sennett comedies co-starred Raymond McKee and Ruth Hiatt as a young married couple, and Mary Ann Jackson as their wide-eyed daughter Bubbles. The premise of each short had Smith experiencing some new enterprise (''Smith's New Home'', ''Smith's Candy Shop''), or emb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Spear
Harry Sherman Bonner (December 16, 1921 – September 22, 2006),Harry S. Bonner, Social Security Death Index, SSN 557-26-4992 also known as Harry Spear, was an American child actor and vaudevillian. He was notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1927 to 1929 and Educational Pictures shorts from 1925 to 1927. He was a native of Los Angeles, California. Notable for appearing in a total of 31 ''Our Gang'' comedies, Spear also appeared in other shorts before his time in the Gang. He gained recognition for his ginger hair and freckles, as both of his well-known nicknames. After leaving showbiz, Spear started in vaudeville. Early life Born in December 16, 1921 on Los Angeles, California, Harry was born to Joseph Francis Bonner (1893-1961) and Louise Dorothy Spear (1901-1947) He had a grandmother, Bertha Spear. Spear's legal surname, Bonner, was not used in documents like contracts, with his mother's maiden name, Spear being used instead. This was used afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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