George McFarland
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| George "Spanky" McFarland | |
|---|---|
 Geoge "Spanky" McFarland in the 1936 Our Gang comedy Spooky Hooky. |
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| Born | George Robert Phillips McFarland October 2, 1928 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 1993 (aged 64) Grapevine, Texas, U.S. |
| Years active | 1931-1993 |
George Robert Phillips "Spanky" McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for his appearances in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The Our Gang shorts were later popular after being syndicated to television as The Little Rascals.
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[edit] Biography
McFarland was born in Denison, Texas (not in Dallas or Fort Worth, Texas, as many biographies report), to Emmett and Virginia McFarland. He had three siblings, Thomas ("Tommy," who himself had a brief stint in Our Gang), Amanda, and Roderick ("Rod").[citation needed]. McFarland lived in an area of Denison called "Sugar Bottom." Sugar Bottom got its name because sometime in the early 1900s a train hauling sugar overturned, dumping sugar everywhere. Denison, Texas, was famous for its Katy Railroad Depot located and active there until the end of the 20th century. Young McFarland, who still has relatives in Denison, even began school there for a short period before moving south to Dallas, Texas.
Prior to joining the comedies, Buddy, as he was then nicknamed by his family, modeled children's clothing for a Dallas department store and also was regularly seen around the Dallas area on highway billboards and in print advertisements for Wonder Bread. This established "Buddy" early on in the local public's eye as an adorable child model and also provided him experience in front of camera equipment and photographic sets. In response to a trade magazine advertisement from Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, requesting photographs of "cute kids," Spanky's Aunt Dottie (Virginia's sister) sent in some pictures from Buddy's portfolio. Before long, an invitation to come to California for a screen test arrived, and the rest his history.[citation needed]
McFarland's nickname "Spanky" is said to have arisen from repeated warnings by his mother not to misbehave during one of the initial discussions with Hal Roach in his office. As the story goes, he had a habit of reaching out and grabbing things, and on doing so his mother Virginia would say, "Spanky, spanky, mustn't touch!" Spanky himself refuted this version in his later years, saying instead that the name was given to him by a Los Angeles newspaper reporter. Use of the Spanky name by McFarland for subsequent business or personal activities was expressly granted to McFarland in one of his studio contracts. In later years some in his family would affectionately refer to him as just "Spank."[1]
After his discovery at the age of three, he instantly became a popular member of the Our Gang children's comedy movie series and one of Hollywood's darlings. His earliest films show him as an outspoken toddler, grumpily going along with the rest of the gang. His sassy portrayals, natural comedic timing, hilarious facial expressions and ability to act soon brought him more attention, and by 1935 he was the de facto leader of the gang, often paired with Alfalfa and always the enterprising "idea man."[citation needed]
[edit] Later years
McFarland remained with Our Gang through 1942, his final short being Unexpected Riches. Spanky McFarland also appeared as a juvenile performer in feature films, including the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy Kentucky Kernels and two Fritz Lang features of the 1940s.[citation needed]
McFarland joined the Army Air Corps (now the Air Force) at age 24 and on occasion performed at military bases for troops during World War II. Upon his return to civilian life, indelibly typecast in the public's mind as "Spanky" from Our Gang, he found himself unable to find work in show business. In order to make ends meet, he took far less glamorous jobs, including work at a soft drink plant, a hamburger stand, and a popsicle factory. In the late 1950s, when the Our Gang comedies were sweeping the nation on TV, McFarland hosted an afternoon children's show, "Spanky's Clubhouse," on KOTV television in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show included a studio audience and appearances by other celebrities such as James Arness, and it ran Little Rascals shorts.[2]
After that stint, he continued down the "odd-job road," selling wine, operating a restaurant and night club, and selling appliances, electronics and furniture. One job saw him selling for Philco-Ford Corporation, where he worked his way up to national sales director. After his self-described "semi-retirement," Spanky loaned his name and celebrity to help raise money for numerous charities, primarily by participating in golf tournaments. Spanky also had his own namesake charity golf classic for 16 years, held in Marion, Indiana.[3]
McFarland continued to do personal appearances and cameo roles in films and television. His final television performance was in 1993 in an introductory vignette at the beginning of the popular Cheers episode "Woody Gets an Election."
[edit] Death
McFarland died suddenly of a heart attack on June 30, 1993, at age 64. In January 1994, “Spanky” joined fellow alumnus Jackie Cooper to become one of only two Our Gang members to receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
[edit] Filmography
McFarland appeared as “Spanky” in 95 Our Gang films between 1932 and 1942. He also appeared in:
- One Track Minds (1933) as a train passenger
- Day of Reckoning (1933) as Johnny Day
- The Cracked Iceman (1934) as a student
- Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen (1934) as Johnny Prentiss
- Kentucky Kernels (1934) as Spanky
- Here Comes the Band (1935) as Billy Lowry
- O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935) as Joseph "Stubby" O’Shaughnessy (as a child)
- The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) as Buddie Tolliver
- Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938) as Pee Wee
- Katnip Kollege (1938) (uncredited voice work)
- I Escaped from the Gestapo (1943) as Billy
- Seeing Hands (1943) (uncredited) as the boy leading the initiation
- Cowboy and the Senorita (1944) (uncredited) as the kid who trips Teddy Bear
- The Woman in the Window (1945) (uncredited) as the Boy Scout who finds Mazard’s body
- Spanky's Clubhouse (1950s), host
- The Aurora Encounter (1986) as the governor
- Cheers, as himself in 1993 episode “Woody Gets an Election”
[edit] Cultural references
In the Fractured Fairy Tales episode "The Teeth of Baghdad," spanking is depicted as the preferred form of corporal punishment in Iraq, and all citizens are spanked during the yearly observance of "Spanky MacFarland (sic) Day."[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, p. 118. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
- ^ Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, p. 118. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
- ^ Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, p. 118. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
[edit] Further Reading
- Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9.
- Cooper, Jackie (1982). Please Don't Shoot My Dog: The Autobiography of Jackie Cooper. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-425-07483-8.
- Ramsey, Steve. Our Gang Online. Ramseyltd.com (No longer online). Retrieved version of site as it existed on August 3, 2002 using the Wayback Machine on March 10, 2005. (Appears to be back online a/o 10/21/07).
