By Mike McKiernan Thu, October 2, 2008, 12:01 am PDT

Production still from his first starring role in Spanky George "Spanky" McFarland was born October 2, 1928, and was only three years old when he appeared in the 1932 "Our Gang" short, "Free Eats." Other than acting adorable in a baby carriage, he didn't have much to do in that film, but it was enough for audiences and producer Hal Roach to fall in love with him. Series director Robert McGowan said little George was a natural. As proof of his instant stardom, the next "Our Gang" film was titled "Spanky" -- the only short (out of 220 in the series) to be named after an "Our Gang" character. In that one, he had a much larger role and an agenda beyond just acting adorable: He had to hunt and kill bugs with a hammer and throw all of his mean dad's secret cash out the window. In a few of those early films, Spanky even received top billing -- the first and only child in the series to do so. In his early years, Spanky was cast mostly as someone's little brother, or as one of the younger "bugging" kids, with sidekick Scotty. From the mid '30s to his final short in 1942, however, he was the star of the series alongside Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Throughout his 10-year run with Hal Roach and MGM Studios, he appeared in 95 shorts, coming in second only to Allen "Farina" Hoskins, who appeared in 105. George McFarland didn't have much of an acting career beyond the "Our Gang" series. And, unfortunately, due to the way contracts were written in the early days of filmmaking, none of the kids in these shorts ever received any residuals or royalties from endless TV reruns or home video releases. McFarland did take one final bow in 1993, just a few months before his death, when he made a guest appearance as himself in the opening scene of a little show called "Cheers," where everybody knows your name. We'll never forget your name, Spanky! Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: Our Gang - detailed history of the "Our Gang" comedies, including when and why they were later known as The Little Rascals. YouTube: Spanky's Theme - interesting montage of young Spanky's clips. Snopes.com: Our Gang Curse - was there really a curse surrounding the "Our Gang" actors? Snopes says "false." TVparty!: Our Gang on TV - nice history of the series with lots of photos and videos. Our Gang and The Little Rascals by Thomas Staedeli - autograph collector provides his insight on the series and characters.

Directory categories: Our Gang (The Little Rascals), Our Gang Actors, Comedy Groups

Archived under: 1930s, Actors, Biographies, Celebrities, Child Actors, Entertainment, Little Rascals, Movies, Our Gang

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