|
|
Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 18, 2013 7:39:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mtw12055 on Jun 18, 2013 13:49:39 GMT -5
From what I'm able to gather, the original Stinky (seen in this photo) is Monty Banks' stepson (Leo Lowenstein, a.k.a. Monty Banks, Jr.). He was in the McGuire series for the first year.
For the remainder of the silent era, Stinky was played by Chuck "Junior" Johnston. Our own Kendall (Brisbane) McComas played the role in the series' earliest talkies.
Douglas Fox IV was Stinky for most of the sound era, and Douglas Scott was Stinky for the final season (the one with Shirley Jean Rickert).
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Aug 25, 2013 16:17:43 GMT -5
Stinky update: I was just mooching around on the net, checking old bookmarks and deleting the ones that are dead or which I no longer use when I came across this one... Click here for Our Gang and the Little RascalsIf you scroll down the page you come across a list of all the kids who appeared in the Little Rascals with dates etc. Among the kids listed is... Ernie Weckbaugh as Stinky (appeared in 1937) - b. 07/ ? /1931 There is also a link to a page which details his Our Gang appearances... Click here for the Stinky PageStill not convinced? (I'm not). Here he is with Alfie & Spanky when he wasn't trailing along behind them on a tricycle (hmm just like Leonard Landy)  He's mentioned on the Our Gang Wiki too... Click here for the Our Gang Wiki Stinky Weckbaugh pageHe also has an IMDb listing... Click here for Stinky Weckbaugh on the IMDbI think he did appear in Came The Brawn, at least the kid in the photo did, but he was nameless in the movie, certainly nobody referred to him as Stinky on screen. Whether that kid's real name was Ernie Weckbaugh or not is anyone's guess. As for the rest of his claimed Our Gang appearances, if they actually occurred, he must have been just an extra in the background. Personally I've got my doubts whether there were any other appearances. Stinky's recollections of trailing after Alfie & Spanky on a tricycle sound like a description of Leonard Landy. In my view he was either a genuine one time extra who later exaggerated his role within the gang or he's a liar who simply claimed to be the kid who did appear in one Our Gang movie and then embroidered his lies still further. It wouldn't be the first time that someone has pointed at a photo of an kid from Our Gang and claimed it was themselves. Imposters have previously laid claim to photos of Our Gang kids such as Mickey Daniels, Harry Spear and Carl Switzer. He even did a TV interview recalling his days acting in Our Gang and in '20 other films' Click here for the Stinky Weckbaugh interview videoI might be wrong and doing him a huge injustice but after listening to his interview I'm of the opinion that he was a pure fantasist or to put it bluntly a liar. He mentions Alfie fluffing up lines which were never even spoken by him and then agrees with the interviewer that 'It's a Wonderful Life' was one of Alfie's last movies. Yeah sure thing if you discount the over 30 movie and TV series that Alfie appeared in during the twelve years after he appeared in It's A Wonderful Life. Furthermore although, according to Stinky, he apparently didn't join the Our Gang movies until 1938 he recalls an incident involving Stymie at the Warner ranch, although Stymie had long since left the series by 1938 to say nothing about 'Warner'. Stinky even talks about Our Gang imposters! Now that does takes some nerve. Geez, is there no end to this? He actually wrote a book about his time with Our Gang, which is available to buy on Amazon... Click for "Lessons I Learned as a Little Rascal" on AmazonHe couldn't even keep his fantasies consistent because the story about 'Stymie' at the Warner ranch has now changed to one about 'Farina'. Stinky even claims in his book... "At age six he performed at the Jonathan Club in a song and dance chorus called The Floradora Sextette." Not the Floradora Dollies then? I'll bet his pants were often on fire.
|
|
|
|
Post by mtw12055 on Aug 31, 2013 13:05:47 GMT -5
Once again, I don't Ernie ("Stinky")'s stories are from an 'imposter'. Rather, Ernie's merely mistaken. For instance, the scene at the Warner Ranch that Ernie recalled was actually a scene from one of Warner's "Penrod" movies. It was actually Phillip Hurlic that performed in the scene, not Farina. In short, Ernie's not imposter, he just went by what he remembered, rather than legitimate research.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Aug 31, 2013 14:37:01 GMT -5
Once again, I don't Ernie ("Stinky")'s stories are from an 'imposter'. Rather, Ernie's merely mistaken. For instance, the scene at the Warner Ranch that Ernie recalled was actually a scene from one of Warner's "Penrod" movies. It was actually Phillip Hurlic that performed in the scene, not Farina. In short, Ernie's not imposter, he just went by what he remembered, rather than legitimate research. I guess you are far more generous and trusting than me. I am often been accused of being overly cynical but as a person with Aspergers I have a great reliance on facts, I view the world in terms of black and white, right and wrong. Stinky makes plenty of claims but is sadly lacking in any credible facts to back up those claims. I've seen other people account online for Stinky's 'mistakes' regarding the Stymie/Farina swimming story at the Warner ranch by attributing it to failing memory and mixing up something that may have happened during the filming of one of the the Penrod sequels. Personally I dunn buy it, most of his claims, not only those relating to Our Gang, simply seemed exaggerated at best or pure fantasy at worse. During the interview Stinky was rather evasive about specifics until pressed by the interviewer and then when he was specific he simply got his facts wrong. The boy in the still from 'Came the Brawn' was most definitely in the movie, there is no disputing that fact, however we have only Ernie Weckbaugh's word for it that he was that boy. Likewise we only have Stinky's word for it that he made an uncredited appearance in 'Penrod and His Twin Brother' too. From what he said during his interview, and on his webpage, he apparently appeared in around twenty movies but where are the specifics? What were the names of any of those other movies? He is only credited with two movie appearances on IMDb and IMDb dunn always get their attributions right because anyone can add information to that site. Those two roles were undoubtedly played by someone but was that someone Ernie Weckbaugh? As far as I can see we have only his word for it that it was him but when he attempts to back up his claims with memories he recounts mixed up stories of things that simply didn't happen. Keeping facts to a minimum is always helpful to anyone making false claim because the moment their claims become specific those claims can then be checked and possibly disproved. When pressed for specifics Stinky recounted how he 'usually tagged long behind Spanky and Alfalfa on his tricycle.' We know for a fact that is simply rubbish unless he is he also claiming to be Leonard Landy as well as the unidentified boy from Came The Brawn. In several other instances people have paraded old photos from Our Gang and have then claimed that they were one of the kids in the photo, sometimes newspapers and TV have accepted their claims at face value. In several cases those claims have later proved to be false. As far as I can see we have a person called Ernie Weckbaugh who claims to have been part of Our Gang. He claims to have appeared in several Our Gang movies but all he has to back up that claim is one still from one movie of an uncredited boy and several seriously mixed up and simply wrong 'memories,' those things simply dunn add up to 'proof' in my book. |
|
|
|
Post by ymymeatemup on Aug 31, 2013 23:33:47 GMT -5
I agree that a healthy dose of skepticism is in order when it comes to anybody's claim of being a 'long lost' Our Gang kid, especially when they claim a nickname that isn't associated with the series or claim more appearances than is logically possible. There are scores of phonies out there (well, actually, most of them are dead now), so objective evidence is always in order. Your point about keeping facts to a minimum being helpful to somebody making a false claim is exactly right, as this is usually what happens with Our Gang imposters. When they DO provide details, they inevitably give the game away.
However, Ernie Weckbaugh, as wildly inaccurate as his details are, doesn't belong in this category. I've got a casting directory entry from 1939 which verifies his name as well as his resemblance to the boy in "Came The Brawn." It also mentions his work in the Our Gang series as well as "Penrod and His Twin Brother." It's also known that one of the characters in the Penrod books (and films) was nicknamed "Stinky." While I've yet to see "Penrod and His Twin Brother," I don't find it difficult to surmise that Weckbaugh played this role (he did, after all, wind up with the nickname). I've also read a description of the film that would suggest that his 'swimming hole' recollection with Farina/Stymie was probably a scene from this film, and almost certainly would have involved Philip Hurlic, since he was a regular in the film series. In fact, Philip's nickname "Lucky" derives from his character in the Penrod films.
My theory is that Ernie Weckbaugh spent most of his life occupying his mind with things other than his Hollywood childhood. Then he became an old man and found that nostalgia is a good way to supplement one's income. However, the mementos left over from his childhood were probably sparse and his memories vague by this time, so he filled in the gaps with a bit of baloney, knowing that very few people would ever know the difference.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Sept 2, 2013 8:36:16 GMT -5
My theory is that Ernie Weckbaugh spent most of his life occupying his mind with things other than his Hollywood childhood. Then he became an old man and found that nostalgia is a good way to supplement one's income. However, the mementos left over from his childhood were probably sparse and his memories vague by this time, so he filled in the gaps with a bit of baloney, knowing that very few people would ever know the difference. I'd go along with that except I'd replace 'bits of baloney' with 'lots of baloney' and a great deal of padding. Click here for another Stinky article |
|
|
|
Post by RJH on Sept 2, 2013 12:28:30 GMT -5
The Our Gang Wiki article is not an independent source of information in this case; the nickname is given since that's what it says on theluckycorner website. If it's decided that "Stinky" shouldn't be used as the character nickname, we can remove it.
|
|
|
|
Post by ymymeatemup on Sept 2, 2013 13:01:20 GMT -5
The way it works on The Lucky Corner, if it's in the middle, such as Ernie "Stinky" Weckbaugh, then it only means that he went by this nickname at some point in his life. If it was a character name, then it would say 'as "Stinky".'
|
|
|
|
Post by RJH on Sept 3, 2013 21:59:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the explanation. The Ernie Weckbaugh pages (character and role) have been updated to reflect that "Stinky" was not a nickname used in the Our Gang films.
|
|
kirk
New Member
Posts: 1
|
Post by kirk on Apr 11, 2022 9:23:32 GMT -5
When living in the 60's in San Luis Obispo,
There was an older man who ran the local radio station where my father who ran a local bank
And did the sportscasting for the Local junior college games -
Father mentioned man played Stinky in one of the old series - when by the name Reginald Denny Streeter?
Not sure what other programs like Our Gang were out there...
|
|
Check out the link and see for yourself. If you are interested dunn worry about me buying it first, I won't because stinky items just dunn appeal to me at all...
