George McFarland: Information from Answers.com

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

For the Civil War army officer, see George F. McFarland.

George "Spanky" McFarland
McFarland as "Spanky" in Our Gang Follies of 1938.
Born	George Robert Phillips McFarland October 2, 1928(1928-10-02) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 30, 1993 (aged 64) Grapevine, Texas, U.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. The Our Gang shorts were later popular after being syndicated to television as The Little Rascals.

1 Early years
2 Our Gang
3 Later years
4 Death
5 Filmography
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Early years

McFarland was born in Dallas, Texas at Methodist Hospital in 1928 to Robert Emmett and Virginia McFarland. He had three siblings, Thomas ("Tommy," who himself appeared in a few Our Gang episodes as "Dynamite"), Amanda, and Roderick ("Rod").

Prior to joining the Our Gang comedies, Buddy, as he was called by his family, modeled children's clothing for a Dallas department store and also was 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 provided experience before cameras.

Our Gang

In January 1931, 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 pictures from Buddy's portfolio. An invitation for a screen test soon arrived, which happened that spring, leading to his acting career.^[1] Portions of Spanky's screen test are included in a 1932 Our Gang entry, aptly entitled Spanky.

McFarland's nickname "Spanky" is erroneously said to have arisen from 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!" While this story has considerable folksy appeal, Spanky himself refuted the tale, saying that the name was given 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 "Spank."^[1]

After his discovery at the age of three, he instantly became a key member of the Our Gang children's comedy movie series and one of Hollywood's stars. His earliest films show him as an outspoken toddler, grumpily going along with the rest of the gang. His scene-stealing abilities brought him more attention, and by 1935 he was the de facto leader of the gang, often paired with Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, and always the enterprising "idea man."^[1] Switzer's character became as much of a scene stealer as the young McFarland was, and the two boys' fathers fought constantly over screen time and star billing for their children.^[2]

Spanky McFarland's only starring feature-film vehicle was the 1936 Hal Roach film General Spanky, an unsuccessful attempt to move the Our Gang series into features. He also appeared as a juvenile performer in many non-Roach feature films, including the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy Kentucky Kernels and two Fritz Lang features of the 1940s.

Following the 1938 Our Gang short Came the Brawn, McFarland "retired" from Our Gang, beginning a personal appearance tour.^[3] In mid-1938, Hal Roach sold the Our Gang unit to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who began casting for a new "team leader" character in Spanky's vein and ended up rehiring McFarland himself. He remained in the MGM Our Gang productions until his final appearance in the series, Unexpected Riches, in 1942 at age thirteen.^[1]

Later years

In 1952, at age 24, McFarland joined the U.S. Air Force. 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. He took 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.^[1]

After that stint, he continued at odd jobs - selling wine, operating a restaurant and night club, and selling appliances, electronics and furniture. He was selling for Philco-Ford Corporation, where he advanced to national sales director. After his self-described "semi-retirement," Spanky loaned his name and celebrity to help raise money for charities, primarily by participating in golf tournaments. Spanky also had his own namesake charity golf classic for 16 years, held in Marion, Indiana.^[1]

McFarland continued to make personal appearances and cameo roles in films and television, including an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. His final television performance was in 1993 in an introductory vignette at the beginning of the Cheers episode "Woody Gets An Election".

Death

McFarland died of cardiac arrest on June 30, 1993 at age 64. His remains were cremated shortly thereafter.

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.

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 and the Election”

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f 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. 178-180. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
^ http://theluckycorner.com/rmt/166.html

External links

George “Spanky” McFarland at the Internet Movie Database
George McFarland at Allmovie
George McFarland at Find a Grave
McFarland 1987 appearance at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)

Persondata
NAME	McFarland, George "Spanky"
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	McFarland, George Robert Phillips
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Film actor
DATE OF BIRTH	1928-10-2
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dallas, Texas, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH	1993-6-30
PLACE OF DEATH	Grapevine, Texas, U.S.

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