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"Spanky" redirects here. For other uses, see Spanky (disambiguation).
George "Spanky" McFarland

McFarland (left) as "Spanky" in Our Gang Follies of 1938 with fellow Our Gang cast members Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Darla Hood. Our Gang Follies of 1938 (later reissued as simply Follies of 1938) is a 1937 musical Short subject, the 161st short "The Little Rascals" redirects here For other uses see The Little Rascals (disambiguation. Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer ( August 7, 1927 &ndash January 21, 1959) was an American Child actor, professional Darla Jean Hood ( November 8, 1931 &ndash June 13, 1979) was an American Child actress, best known for her lead roles
Born George Robert Phillips McFarland
October 2, 1928 (1928-10-02)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died June 30, 1993 (aged 64)
Grapevine, Texas, U. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Grapevine is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States and a suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas. S.
Occupation Film actor
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. An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Events Top grossing films Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff Ingagi, starring Sir Hubert The year 1993 in film involved many significant films (For more about films in foreign languages check sources in those languages Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works "The Little Rascals" redirects here For other uses see The Little Rascals (disambiguation. The Our Gang shorts were later popular after being syndicated to television as The Little Rascals. "The Little Rascals" redirects here For other uses see The Little Rascals (disambiguation.

Contents

Biography

McFarland was born in Denison, Texas (not in Dallas or Fort Worth, Texas, as many biographies report), to Emmett and Virginia McFarland. Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. The population was 22773 at the 2000 census but Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States. He had three siblings, Thomas ("Tommy," who himself had a brief stint in Our Gang), Amanda, and Roderick ("Rod"). . 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. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (reporting marks MKT) was incorporated May 23, 1870. DEPOT is an acronym for Distributed Ensemble of Pages that is Outage Tolerant 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. Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr ( January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Before long, an invitation to come to California for a screen test arrived, and the rest is history.

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. Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr ( January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and 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. Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer ( August 7, 1927 &ndash January 21, 1959) was an American Child actor, professional "

Later years

McFarland remained with Our Gang through 1942, his final short being Unexpected Riches. The following is a complete list of the 221 Our Gang films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944 in order 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. Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang ( December 5, 1890 &ndash August 2, 1976) was an Austrian German - American

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. An air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense the national military or armed service World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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. A hamburger (or burger) is a Sandwich consisting of a cooked ground Meat Patty, usually Beef, placed in a sliced bun or between Popsicle is the most popular brand of Ice pop in the US and Canada. 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. KOTV, commonly referred to as "KOTV 6" or "The News On 6" is the CBS affiliate in Tulsa Oklahoma, in the United States Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. The show included a studio audience and appearances by other celebrities such as James Arness, and it ran Little Rascals shorts. James Arness (born as James Aurness on May 26 1923, Minneapolis Minnesota) is an Emmy -nominated American Actor [1]

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. Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company (formerly known as the Spencer Company and later the Helios Electric Company) was a pioneer in early battery 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. Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 30830 at the 2006 census The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union [1]

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. Cheers is an American Situation comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993 "

Death

McFarland died suddenly of a heart attack on June 30, 1993, at age 64. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) 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. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Jackie Cooper (born September 15 1922 is an American Academy Award -nominated Actor, Emmy Award -winning TV director, and TV The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood Los Angeles California, USA, that

Filmography

McFarland appeared as “Spanky” in 95 Our Gang films between 1932 and 1942. He also appeared in:

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. O'Shaughnessy's Boy is a 1935 film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is a 1936 Romance film based on the novel of the same name. The Woman in the Window ( 1944) is a Film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley ( Edward Cheers is an American Situation comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993 The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate American Television Animated series: Rocky and His Friends Spanking is a form of Corporal punishment that generally consists of striking the Buttocks of a Child or Teenager, usually by the parents Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. "

References

  1. ^ a b c Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. Leonard Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American Film critic and Film Historian. (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

Further reading

External links

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