Jack Clem Hanlon (February 15, 1916 – December 13, 2012) was an American child actor known for his role in '' Our Gang'' and silent films. According to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', at the time of his death he was the oldest living person to appear in the ''Our Gang'' comedies and likely the last surviving cast member of the Buster Keaton silent classic '' The General''. Hanlon was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

, and was raised by his grandmother in Culver City, California. He started acting at age 10. His first role was in Buster Keaton's 1926 film, ''The General'', before appearing in two 1927 ''Our Gang/Little Rascals'' silent shorts: '' The Glorious Fourth'' and ''

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

''. He had what was characterized as a breakout performance in the 1929

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of ...

-directed

part-talkie A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions, lines of dialog are presented as "titles"—printed text briefly ...

'' The Shakedown'', co-starring James Murray and

Barbara Kent Barbara Kent ( Barbara Cloutman) December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011) was a Canadian film actress, prominent from the silent film era to the early talkies of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1925, Barbara Kent won the Miss Hollywood Beauty Pageant. ...

. He also had minor roles in ''

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

'', where as an uncredited extra he got his first on-screen kiss from

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

. Between 1930 and 1933, Hanlon appeared in eight more films before giving up his acting career in 1932. After graduating from high school, he played minor league baseball and served as an

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, Hanlon, worked as a furniture mover for

Allied Van Lines Allied Van Lines is an American moving company founded in 1928 as a cooperative non-profit organization owned by its member agents on the east coast of the United States, to help with organizing return loads and minimizing dead-heading (i.e. op ...

. He was married to Jean Hanlon from 1940 until her death in 1977. He moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

in 1994. He stayed friends with fellow ''Our Gang'' alumnus and Las Vegan, Jay R. Smith. He died on December 13, 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanlon, Jack 1916 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from California Male actors from Fort Worth, Texas Military personnel from Texas People from Culver City, California United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II