Who's your favorite Rascal?

[eatemup]

I wasn't aware that George "Spanky" McFarland was nasty to fans. I know he attended many fan group meetings throughout the country and signed many autographs. And people I know who met him at those meetings said he was quiet and reserved, but not at all nasty. I met his widow and she was quite pleasant. Perhaps Spanky wasn't gracious to fans who called him at home, but maybe he felt it was a bit intrusive. I think that's understandable.

[rascalwatcher]

Yes, it was somewhat intrusive. I plead youthful ignorance - I was only about 14 at the time. He did later send me an autographed picture of himself (after I wrote him), so that was nice.

[kjw]

Hi there.I have two favorites and I'm going by talent alone on my first favorite.Scotty Beckett without question was my favorite Rascal,and to this day is still my favorite kid actor of all time.I feel that on talent he had it all.Too bad he died so young and in his prime.Had he had not died at such a young age,there was no telling how far he could have taken his acting limits to.

He also might have been a very successful adult actor had he continued and lived.Even so he is still right up there with 2 of the other Gang members who had the most succesful careers as adult actors,of Jackie Cooper and Robert Blake,which leads me now to who my 2nd favorite Rascal.

Mickey Gubitosi(Aka Robert Blake would be my next favorite member of the gang) I know that he was very annoying and whiney as a kid, but I still liked him regardless,and there is no question,as far as being an adult actor,that he was even better as an actor.I just didn't think as far as being a kid actor went,that he was as talented as Scotty Beckett was.But as an adult actor he really showed that he could act.

[zootmoney]

I have only recently been able to see the silents. I grew up watching the others on TV. I bought the Maltin book when it first came out, so I have been curious about the silent era for some time. Mary Kornman stands out as my favorite.

[Froggy0705]

Here is my top 5 Our Gang kids
1. Froggy-He had the best acting talent then any of the other MGM kids of the shorts that he appeared in.

2. Jackie Condon-He cracked me up in alot of episodes Giants Vs Yanks, The Love Bug..

3. Spanky-He did a fabulous job for starting at the age of 2. My brother in law met him and said that he was one of the nicest guys that he has ever met!

4. Kendall McComas...Brisbane...This kid started out great and in Readin And Writin was his top performance. He was also good in the episode Spanky.

5. Carl Alfalfa Switzer- This kid also had good talent to me! Came The Brawn, Feed Em And Weep, Men In Fright...those stand out as my favorite Alfalfa shorts.

Now to me i think there were some kids that were overated but this is just a opinion.

Jackie Cooper-Yes he was great and had some good moments but he just wasn't a favorite of mine for some reason. Secondly he didn't appear in that many episodes. I know Brisbane appeared in less but Jackie gets too much hype in my mind.

Chubby Chaney-I think Chubby's best moment was in Bargain Day with the whole top hat thing and then the machine to try to lose weight was funny.

Mickey Gubitosi and Janet Burston would come out as other kids that i really wasn't fond of but to me as far as the MGM shorts are just as good as the Hal Roach shorts. There were plenty of epsiodes from the Roach era that were not that good such as Lazy Days, Forgotten Babies, The Pinch Singer, Moan, Groan And Inc. Yes there were some MGM's that weren't very good and All About Hash is one of them and others like Tiny Troubles, Good Bad Boys, Family Troubles, Benjamin Franklin, Jr. The MGM's are definetly overlooked and to me they deserve the same credit that the Roach episodes did! ;D

[danthebirdman]

My favorite Rascal would have to be Spanky,but it's kinda hard for me to make a choice because my favorite would equally go to Alfalfa,Spanky,Darla,Butch,and Buckwheat

[cubear]

Stymie..definately I also Love Whezzer and Spanky when he was very small.

[Jojo]

Besides Buckwheat, I loved Farina, Stymie, Wheezer, Dickie Moore, and my main man, Porky!

[sidewayscap]

I adore Scotty Beckett. In real life he grew up and became a child beater but he was so CUTE! I also like Breezy. He is one of few things that make my Dad laugh really hard! He was also 15 when he started and I'm 15 so that's cool...but he had a bad end too. jerry Tucker is also cool, he seems to really love his wife and kids. Finally a favourite of mine that did not kill himself(yeah) ;D

[farinafan]

I like Farina the best he was also supposed to be really nice in real life to

[farinafan]

Also I like chubby and Spanky up to when Scotty left Our Gang

[maliejandra]

My favorite will always be Wheezer, such a great comedian who had such a short, sad life. My second favorite is D i ckie Moore, who I hope to write a book about.

[sidewayscap]

When you write that let us know right away, k'? Oh, and good idea spelling D i ckie that way to avoid "Dickie".

[Mark]

I just fixed the Dickie name thing.

[maliejandra]

THANK YOU Mark!

hehe, yeah sidewayscap. I really truly intend on writing the book although I don't know how much cooperation I'll get from Mr. Moore himself. I wrote him a letter and his reply way very brief, but I believe it was sincere. I luckily have the information Leonard Maltin gave in his biography about Dickie, many of Dickie's other films are available for viewing, and his Twinkle Twinkle Little Star book is enough to go on. I hope to be able to use interviews and such with him, but if that doesn't work out, I think I'll still be able to write a decent book.