Switzer was the tall, skinny, freckle-faced kid with the uncontrollable cow-lick and the equally uncontrollable singing voice. As a result, everyone knew Switzer, but he never profited from his fame. No one even considered the concept of royalties and syndication. At the time Our Gang was filmed, television was still in its infancy, and many considered it to be a temporary novelty. Although he appeared in nearly 75 of the comedy shorts over the next five years, he didn't receive a single dime from the show. In 1935 Switzer was added to the already successful Our Gang comedy series when he was only seven years old. He died on January 21, 1959, the victim of a killer's bullet as he and another man argued over a lost hunting dog. He would later become known as "Alfalfa", a character he played on the Hal Roach produced series of film shorts called Our Gang, known later in syndication as The Little Rascals. Survivors include his wife, three children and mother.Our Gang's Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer Killed over $50 and a Hunting DogĬarl Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois in 1927. He also owned a barbecue restaurant in Oklahoma City. ″When I reached 16, and they stopped making the comedies, I made the decision then - I told my parents - I wasn’t going to make any more films,″ he told the Midland Reporter Telegram in October 1988.Īfter retiring from the movie industry, McFarland worked in sales for 29 years. In addition to ″Our Gang,″ McFarland made 14 feature-length movies including ″Trail of the Lonesome Pine″ with Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray and ″Woman in the Window″ with Edward G. He modeled baby clothes in his hometown of Dallas and made a one-minute Wonder Bread commercial that was noticed by director Hal Roach. McFarland became an actor in 1931 when he was 3. He didn’t know, she said - it was to be unveiled on a surprise trip to California. McFarland also was revered by another childhood star - Michael Jackson, who visited McFarland’s home in 1984.īetsy McFarland said her father was due to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame soon. ″He was a favorite of the executive producers when they were growing up so they invited him and he accepted,″ Bob Meyer, NBC manager of media relations, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He was a hit at charity appearances and often popped up on cameo roles in movies and television shows, including a spot on ″Cheers″ last April. Spanky’s popularity endured long after his acting career ended. ″The thing that I liked so much about Spanky as an adult was he treated everyone the same,″ Moore said. ″You couldn’t ask for a better legacy.″įormer ″Our Gang″ colleague Dick Moore, who played ″Dickie,″ said his friend ″was a super guy.″ ″He made four generations of people all over the world laugh,″ said his son, Verne McFarland of Watauga. The cause of death was unknown, said Baylor Grapevine Hospital spokesman Steve Tatum. McFarland died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack. Yet generations were moved to smiles by images of the chubby child star of the ″Our Gang″ and ″Little Rascals″ comedies. GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) _ George ″Spanky″ McFarland’s acting career ended when he was a teen-ager.
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