Gary Jasgur (November 8, 1935 – August 22, 1994) was an American former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

, most notable for appearing in the ''

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 ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

series from 1937 to 1939.

Career

Dark-haired Jasgur was cast as "Junior", the infant brother of either Spanky or Darla. In his two years with the ''Our Gang'' series, Jasgur did not have a single word of dialogue, yet managed to make life miserable for his older sibling. He was memorable as the pint-sized, banana-eating timekeeper in ''

The Pigskin Palooka ''The Pigskin Palooka'' is a 1937 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 159th ''Our Gang'' short (160th episode, 70th talking short, and 71st talking episode) that was released. Plot Having written of his footbal ...

'' and billed as the "world's smallest man" in '' Clown Princes''. Perhaps his most notable role was in '' Canned Fishing'' when Spanky and

Alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

are desperately trying to get out of babysitting little Junior. In 1939, Jasgur left the series "before he knew he had been in it," as film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

commented. Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). ''The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang'', p. 279. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press.

Adult life and death

Gary was actually Jasgur's middle name, and in high school he preferred to be called Mel. Jasgur married in 1956. As an adult, Jasgur operated a small retail spa business in Southern California. He died on August 22, 1994, at age 58 in California, and is survived by four children and ten grandchildren.

References

External links

* 1935 births 1994 deaths Male actors from Los Angeles American male child actors American male film actors 20th-century American male actors Our Gang {{US-film-actor-1930s-stub