Harold Wertz (August 3, 1927 – November 21, 1999) was an American child actor.

Early years

Wertz was born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Long Beach, California. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach.

Our Gang

Back in 1929, after seeing a notice in the local newspaper, his mother entered him in a contest to replace the Hal Roach produced Our Gang comedies fat boy character Joe Cobb who had outgrown the role.

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 ...

though won the role over 500 other entries, including Harold. Norman was known as Chubby. He was even older than Joe Cobb and in 1931 he aged out of the series so after a few months, Harold Wertz was hired to be the fat kid and would begin working at the end of 1931. He played the character ''Bouncy '' in three ''

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 ...

'' films in 1932. He was in the ''Our Gang'' films ''

Choo-Choo! ''Choo-Choo!'' is a 1932 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 114th (26th talking episode) ''Our Gang'' short that was released. It is a remake of the 1923 ''Our Gang'' film '' A Pleasant Journey''. Plot Exch ...

'', '' The Pooch'' and '' Hook and Ladder''. ''

'' was produced on May 7, 1932, '' The Pooch'' was produced on June 11, 1932, and '' Hook and Ladder'' was produced on August 27, 1932. The March

1933 Long Beach earthquake The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault. The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a m ...

left the Culver City studios damaged and production was halted for a time. The studio exercised the 'act of God' clause and did not renew his contract though they put him on loan to other studios much of 1932 and 1933.

Later life

Wertz joined the U.S. Merchant Marine and served on the ship Mills Victory during the final year of World War II and was one of the first US vessels into Tokyo after the armistice in 1945. Upon his return he married Kathleen McCracken, settled in Long Beach, California, had two children and worked in the steel pipe business until his retirement.

Death

Wertz died from complications of a stroke on November 21, 1999, in San Diego, California, and is interred at Forest Lawn in Cypress, California.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wertz, Harold 1927 births 1999 deaths American male film actors American male child actors 20th-century American male actors