George "Spanky" McFarland

 George "Spanky" McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993)

McFarland is most famous for his appearances as a child in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The Our Gang shorts were later syndicated to television as The Little Rascals. Upon being discovered at age 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." 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. McFarland's only starring feature-film role was in 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. He remained in the MGM Our Gang productions until his final appearance in the series Unexpected Riches in 1942, at age fourteen.

As an adult, McFarland found himself typecast as Spanky, and worked a series of regular jobs through the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, when the Our Gang comedies were sweeping the nation on TV, McFarland hosted an afternoon children's show, The Spanky Show, 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. After leaving, he continued to make public appearances and worked mostly regular jobs. McFarland was in his bedroom in Keller, Texas getting dressed on June 30, 1993 when he suddenly collapsed. Paramedics tried to revive him for approximately 30 minutes before transporting him to Baylor University Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas. He was pronounced dead within 40 minutes of being admitted, at age 64. It was believed that McFarland had died of "a heart attack or an aneurysm"; his remains were cremated shortly thereafter.