Darla Jean Hood

 Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 - June 13, 1979)

Hood was best known as the leading lady in the Our Gang series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of music teacher Elizabeth Davner, and James Claude Hood, who worked in a bank. She made her debut at age four in the 1935 film Our Gang Follies of 1936 and was soon given a role in The Bohemian Girl with Laurel and Hardy. From 1935 to 1941, she continued to play in Our Gang. She is well remembered for her coquettish character, typically the love interest of Alfalfa, Butch, or (occasionally) Waldo. One of her most memorable moments was singing "I'm in the Mood for Love" in The Pinch Singer. Hood's final appearance Our Gang film was 1941's "Wedding Worries". Hood later went solo with singing engagements in nightclubs and guest appearances on TV. She was a regular on The Ken Murray Show from 1950 to 1951. In 1955, she was a leading lady in the act of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. In 1957, Darla was a regular performer on The Merv Griffin Show for the American Broadcasting Network. Hood was a guest on such TV shows of the early 1960s as Tell It to Groucho and The Jack Benny Show, where she appeared on October 30, 1962 as "Darla" in a spoof of the Our Gang comedies with Jack Benny (who appeared as Alfalfa), and The Charlotte Peters Show in St. Louis.

She did singing and voice-over on TV commercials, which included Campbell Soup and Chicken of the Sea tuna. Hood was busy organizing a Little Rascals reunion for the Los Angeles Chapter of The Sons of the Desert when she underwent an appendectomy at Canoga Park Hospital, Canoga Park, California. After the procedure, she died suddenly of heart failure on June 13, 1979 at age 47. An autopsy disclosed that Hood had contracted acute hepatitis from a blood transfusion given during the operation, leading to her death. Darla Hood is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.