George Mcfarland

Vocation

American actor most famous for his appearances as a child in the Our Gang comedy series, 1932-1942. After a 1931 Hollywood screen test, he was given the nickname “Spanky” by a Los Angeles newspaper reporter. In his earliest movies he personified the term "a spanky child" - early 20th century slang for an intelligent, gifted toddler. At age three, he instantly became a key member of the Our Gang and a Hollywood star. He presented as an outspoken, scene-stealing toddler, grumpily going along with the rest of the gang. By 1935 he was the gang’s de facto leader and enterprising "idea man.” After a stint in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s, McFarland worked less glamorous jobs, but by mid-decade, as the Our Gang comedies swept the nation on TV, he hosted an afternoon children's show, The Spanky Show, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His final television performance was in 1993, playing himself in an episode of Cheers. McFarland died of cardiac arrest on 30 June 1993 in Grapevine, Texas. In January 1994, he posthumously joined fellow alumnus Jackie Cooper to become one of only two Our Gang members to receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Link to Wikipedia biography