Our Gang personnel
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This page is a listing of the significant cast and crew for Hal Roach's Our Gang short subjects series, which ran in movie theatres from 1922 to 1944.
Contents |
[edit] Our Gang kids (and pets)
Our Gang's lineup changed frequently; as kids left the series or outgrew their roles, new kids were recruited to join the cast. Some of the cast additions were direct changings-of-the-guard, and those are annotated accordingly. The groupings are not meant to represent a cast lineup for a particular Our Gang short from the period it represents, but rather a more general listing of the main members of the cast during the period.
[edit] Early silents period: 1922-1926
- Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison
- Mickey Daniels
- Mary Kornman
- Peggy Cartwright
- Jackie Condon
- Jackie Davis
- Johnny Downs
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Joe Cobb
- Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson (replaced Sammy in 1925)
- Andy Samuel
- Pal the Wonderdog
- Dinah the Mule
[edit] 1926-1929
Late silents period
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Jackie Condon
- Joe Cobb
- Jay R. Smith (replaced Mickey in 1926)
- Jean Darling (replaced Mary in 1926)
- Harry Spear
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Mary Ann Jackson
- Bobby "Bonedust" Young
- Mildred Kornman
- Dinah the Mule
- Pete the Pup (called Minnie in at least one film)
[edit] 1929-1931
Early sound period
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Mary Ann Jackson
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Bobby "Bonedust" Young
- Norman "Chubby" Chaney (replaced Joe Cobb in 1929)
- Jackie Cooper
- Donald Haines
- Dorothy DeBorba
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard (joined in 1930, became Farina's replacement in 1931)
- Buddy McDonald
- Shirley Jean Rickert
- Pete the Pup (the original Pete—a.k.a. Pal the Wonderdog—was poisoned in 1930; trainer Harry Lucenay used Pete's offspring [who all appear in Pups is Pups] in the series after they reached maturity starting in 1931)
- Dinah the Mule
[edit] 1931-1933
Early transitional period
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Dorothy DeBorba
- Donald Haines
- Jerry Tucker
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Tommy Bond
- Sherwood Bailey
- Kendall "Breezy Brisbane" McComas
- Dickie Moore
- Jacquie Lyn
- John "Uh-huh" Collum
- Pete the Pup (Lucenay left the Roach studio in 1932; unrelated, dissimilar bulldogs played Pete in subsequent films)
[edit] 1934-1935
Mid-transitional period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard
- Jerry Tucker
- Tommy Bond (left in 1934, would return in 1937 as "Butch")
- Wally Albright
- Scotty Beckett
- Jackie Lynn Taylor
- Marianne Edwards
- Leonard Kibrick
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas (joined in 1934, became Stymie's replacement in 1935)
- Pete the Pup
[edit] 1935
Late transitional period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Scotty Beckett
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Jerry Tucker
- Leonard Kibrick
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer (joined in 1935, became Scotty Beckett's replacement in 1936)
- Harold Switzer
- Darla Hood
- Eugene "Porky" Lee
- Pete the Pup
[edit] 1936-1939
Late Roach/Early MGM period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Darla Hood
- Eugene "Porky" Lee
- Tommy "Butch" Bond (replaced Leonard in 1937)
- Sidney "The Woim" Kibrick
- Darwood "Waldo" Kaye
- Gary "Junior" Jasgur
- Harold Switzer
- Leonard Landy
- Pete the Pup
[edit] 1939-1942
Transitional MGM period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Darla Hood
- Leonard Landy
- Mickey Gubitosi (replaced first Junior, and then Porky, in 1939)
- Billy "Froggy" Laughlin (joined in 1940, replaced Alfalfa in 1941)
- Janet Burston (made guest appearances from 1940 until she replaced Darla in 1942)
[edit] 1942-1944
Late MGM period
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Billy "Froggy" Laughlin
- Bobby "Mickey" Blake (Gubitosi changed his name in 1942)
- Janet Burston
- Violet the Goat
[edit] Other notable Our Gang kids
- Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, made her film debut as an extra in Teacher's Beau in 1935.
- Annabella Logan, later famous as jazz singer Annie Ross, sings one of the musical numbers in Our Gang Follies of 1938.
- Philip Hurlic, a successful child actor, had small parts in several late-1930s Our Gang shorts, and temporarily took Buckwheat's place as a member of the main cast for 1938's Feed 'em and Weep.
- Sonny Bupp, also a successful child actor, played bit roles in several late-1930s Our Gang shorts, including a prominent role in 1938's Men in Fright.
- Juanita Quigley, a successful child actress, appeared in two MGM Our Gang shorts as "Sally": 1940's The New Pupil and 1942's Going to Press.
- Darryl Hickman, a successful child actor, made a featured guest appearance in Going to Press. His younger brother Dwayne Hickman, later famous as the star of TV's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, had a bit part in another 1942 short, Melodies Old and New.
[edit] Recurring adult actors
Many of the regular adult actors in Our Gang also frequently appeared in other Hal Roach comedies, including the Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy series:
- June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher (1930-1932)
- Rosina Lawrence as Miss Lawrence/Miss Jones, the schoolteacher (1936-1937)
- Edgar Kennedy as Kennedy the cop (1929-1930)
- Emerson Treacy and Gay Seabrook as Spanky's parents (1933)
- George and Olive Brasno (1934's Shrimps for a Day and 1936's Arbor Day)
- Hattie McDaniel as Buckwheat's mother (1935-1936)
- William Newell and Barbara Bedford as Alfalfa's parents (1938-1940)
- Jimmy Finlayson
- Charlie Hall
- James C. Morton
- Mae Busch
- Johnny Arthur
- Clarence Wilson
- Billy Gilbert
- Lyle Tayo
- Otto Fries
- Richard Daniels in various rolls in the silent films
- Franklin Pangborn
- Charles McAvoy
- Zeffie Tilbury
- Claudia Dell
[edit] Directors
Hal Roach Studio
- Fred Newmeyer (Our Gang, The Pinch Singer and Arbor Day, 1937 short Mail and Female, and General Spanky)
- Robert F. McGowan (1922 - 1933; Divot Diggers)
- Robert A. McGowan (1926 - 1930) (Robert F.'s nephew, usually credited as "Anthony Mack")
- Ray McCarey (Free Eats)
- Gus Meins (1934 - 1936)
- Gordon Douglas (1936 - 1938 and General Spanky)
- James W. Horne (When the Wind Blows)
- James Parrott (Washee Ironee)
- Nate Watt (Three Men in a Tub and The Awful Tooth)
MGM
- Gordon Douglas (The Little Ranger, Aladdin's Lantern)
- George Sidney (1938 - 1939)
- Edward L. Cahn (1939 - 1942; Three Smart Guys)
- Herbert Glazer (1942 - 1943)
- Sam Baerwitz (Calling All Kids)
- Cy Endfield (Radio Bugs, Dancing Romeo, Tale of a Dog)
[edit] Cinemaphotographers
- Harry W. Gerstand
- Art Lloyd
- F.E. Hershey
- Ernest "Hap" Depew
- Francis Corby
- Kenneth Peach
- Harry Forbes
- Walter Lundin
- Milton Krasner
- Norbert Brodine
- Len Powers
[edit] Film Editors
- Richard Currier
- T.J. Crizer
- Bert Jordan
- William Zeigler
- Jack Ogilive
- William Turhune
- Louis McManus
- Robert Crandall
- Ray Snyder
[edit] Recording Engineers/Sound
- James Greene
- William Randall
- Harry Baker
- Elmer Raguse
- W.B. Delaplain
- William Randall
- Oscar Lagerstrom
- Eral Sitar
[edit] Key writers
- H.M. Walker (1922 - 1932)
- Walter Lantz (mid-1920s)
- Leo McCarey (early to mid-1920s)
- Frank Capra (mid-1920s)
- Charley Chase (early 1920s)
- Frank Tashlin (mid-1930s)
- Hal Roach (1922 - mid 1930s)
- Robert F. McGowan (1922 - 1933)
- Hal Law (wrote most of the MGM shorts)
- Robert A. McGowan (wrote most of the MGM shorts)
[edit] Musicians
[edit] Surviving cast members
As of December 12, 2011, the following Our Gang kids are still living:
- Robert Blake
- Jean Darling
- Marianne Edwards
- Mildred Kornman
- Sidney Kibrick
- Leonard Landy
- Dickie Moore
- Jackie Lynn Taylor
- Jerry Tucker
- Jack Hanlon
- Dick Jones
- Peggy Lynch
- Peggy Ahern
- Lassie Lou Ahern
- Priscilla Montgomery
- Valerie Lee
- Hugh Chapman
- Leon Tyler
- Annie Ross
- Joy Wurgaft
- Patsy Barry
- Jackie Horner
- Clyde Willson
- Philip Hurlic
- Payne Johnson
- Laura June Kenny
- Patsy Britten
- Darryl Hickman
- Dwayne Hickman
- Juanita Quigley
- Donnie "Beezer" Smith
- Dickie Jackson
