Froggy

[fanofalfalfa1]

Besides Alfalfa, I am also a huge fan of Froggy, and thought he did an excellent job with how he used his Popeye trick voice in all of his appearances in Little Rascals films.  I recently saw him on YouTube in a clip from the movie "Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore from 1944, 4 years before his untimely death at only 16 years of age.  Does anyone know if that is the only role he had besides his Little Rascals movies?

[mtw12055]

As far as I know, that's the only film work he did outside of the Gang. He wasn't extremely interested in acting, from what I understand. It was more of something he stumbled into.

[Buppster]

Reposted from earlier in this thread.

[myhomeo]

If I understand correctly, acting was something he got into to help overcome his shyness. The funny voice was a put-on but those thick glasses and the slightly crossed eyes underneath were NOT affectations and he was a little self-conscious about them.

[Buppster]

I just chanced upon this newspaper photo of Froggy, which I've never seen before. He's obliviously far older than he was in Our Gang and presumably it was taken only shortly before his untimely death.

[marktheshark]

Oct 25, 2018 7:36:22 GMT -5 Buppster said:

I just chanced upon this newspaper photo of Froggy, which I've never seen before. He's obliviously far older than he was in Our Gang and presumably it was taken only shortly before his untimely death.

That's not from a newspaper, but a book -- the 1975 edition of Richard Lamparski's "Whatever Became Of..." series. (I used to have the book, but it's long gone. I'm sure it's "out there," though.)

The write-up on Froggy had (then-) recent quotes from his mother, saying she was trying to buy film prints of his shorts and play them for neighborhood children. She said as long as his films could make children laugh, she felt in a way he was still alive. (It wouldn't surprise me if she was the source for that photo.)

I believe other Rascals were profiled in the book, and I think Stymie and Darla were among them.

[mtw12055]

Stymie, Darla, and Buckwheat were all covered by Lamparski at some point. There's also a Lamparski audio interview with Darla out there. Lamparski had a rather unpleasant interview with Spanky (this was during his days as a struggling out-of-work actor), but I don't know if anything with him ever made it into one of the books.

EDIT: According to the Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, a TV pilot version of the "Whatever Became of..." series from the '80s had a story on Spanky. He'd mellowed out by then, so Lamparski was probably more open to a second interview.

[Buppster]

Nov 1, 2018 21:10:46 GMT -5 marktheshark said:

That's not from a newspaper, but a book -- the 1975 edition of Richard Lamparski's "Whatever Became Of..." series. (I used to have the book, but it's long gone. I'm sure it's "out there," though.)

The write-up on Froggy had (then-) recent quotes from his mother, saying she was trying to buy film prints of his shorts and play them for neighborhood children. She said as long as his films could make children laugh, she felt in a way he was still alive. (It wouldn't surprise me if she was the source for that photo.)

I believe other Rascals were profiled in the book, and I think Stymie and Darla were among them.

Thanks for the information. I just assumed that it was from a newspaper because of the aged appearance of the scanned paper, which is more typical of old newspapers than books, unless they're books that are printed on low quality paper.

[marktheshark]

Nov 2, 2018 5:38:32 GMT -5 Buppster said:

Nov 1, 2018 21:10:46 GMT -5 marktheshark said:

That's not from a newspaper, but a book -- the 1975 edition of Richard Lamparski's "Whatever Became Of..." series. (I used to have the book, but it's long gone. I'm sure it's "out there," though.)

The write-up on Froggy had (then-) recent quotes from his mother, saying she was trying to buy film prints of his shorts and play them for neighborhood children. She said as long as his films could make children laugh, she felt in a way he was still alive. (It wouldn't surprise me if she was the source for that photo.)

I believe other Rascals were profiled in the book, and I think Stymie and Darla were among them.

Thanks for the information. I just assumed that it was from a newspaper because of the aged appearance of the scanned paper, which is more typical of old newspapers than books, unless they're books that are printed on low quality paper.

No problem. It is well worth seeking out. It had better info on Froggy than the Maltin-Bann book (which said little about him anyway). For instance, Lamparski had the year of his death right, while Maltin-Bann (in the first edition at least) said he died "in the early 1950s." I get that they didn't much care for the M-G-M shorts (which is completely understandable!) but that seemed to extend to a lack of interest in covering biographical info on those kids at all, aside from Robert Blake.

[Buppster]

Yeah, I agree. What should have been a balanced and impartial account ended up being coloured by personal taste. It's understandable but not very professional.

[mtw12055]

Also a shame that they didn't bother to interview Janet Burston. No, she isn't anyone's favorite Rascal, but I personally would have loved to talk with her about the old days. There's so much from the MGM period that we don't know about because of that lack of interest in the films. I'd imagine Janet had some good info.

[Buppster]

Provided that they didn't let her sing, I agree that she must have had a lot of interesting information to tell about the later MGM years, if anyone had bothered to ask her.