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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Mar 16, 2011 1:34:07 GMT -5
With the passing of Vincent Graeff (and now Jackie Cooper and Edith Fellows), the edited list of the thirty-three Our Gang actors considered to still be alive is as follows: Peggy Ahern: March 9, 1917 Jerry Marenghi: January 24, 1920 Lassie Lou Ahern: June 25, 1920 Jean Darling: August 23, 1922 Donnie Smith: September 17, 1924 Mildred Kornman: July 10, 1925 Dickie Moore: September 12, 1925 Jerry Tucker: November 1, 1925 Jackie Lynn Taylor: June 29, 1926 Dickie Jones: February 25, 1927 Joy Wurgaft: September 19, 1927 Philip Hurlic: December 20, 1927 Sidney Kibrick: July 2, 1928 Peggy Lynch: May 11, 1929 Payne Johnson: June 2, 1930 Annie Ross: July 25, 1930 Marianne Edwards: December 4, 1930 Laura June Kenny: June 8, 1931 Darryl Hickman: July 28, 1931 Patsy Barry: June 30, 1932 Leonard Landy: July 2, 1933 Mickey Gubitosi: September 18, 1933 Dwayne Hickman: May 18, 1934 Clyde Willson: May 7, 1935 I've still been unable to find birth date information for Jack Hanlon, Valerie Lee, Hugh Chapman, Patsy Britten, or Dickie Jackson, but indications are that they're all still living. Priscilla Montgomery's birth year is estimated as possibly being 1928, Billy Mindy's as 1931, Leon Tyler seems to have been born in 1932, and Jackie Horner was probably born in 1933. That group of four Our Gang players is also still living, judging by all available indicators. It is amazing how much information has become available since the Internet. If only this information was out there in the early 80s when I was trying to find some of the gang. I did locate and correspond with a few of them, thanks to the Maltin/Bann book and the telephone books at our local library. And of course, through Robert Satterfield and Luther Hathcock - but if the Internet had been around in 1982 in small-town Minnesota, that would have greatly helped my efforts. I know what you mean. I've read some of what you've written in other threads about the efforts that you made to research The Gang during the 1980s, and what you accomplished was very impressive. Meeting with the success that you had without the help of online resources was really something. What stands out to me most is the contact that you were able to initiate with Monty O'Grady. We might not know a lot about him, but at least we have the questionnaire that he returned to you. Even if he didn't provide a lot of information, it's still of historical value, especially to ardent Our Gang fans.
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Post by myhomeo on Mar 19, 2011 15:34:44 GMT -5
Might as well mention the con artist --I believe he was a preacher or somesuch-- who tried to dupe older followers by claiming he was Alfalfa. When someone mentioned Carl Switzer, he produced a still picture from 'Alfalfa's Double' (That's the one where Alf meets a rich kid who looks exactly like him and they switch places for a day) and claimed Carl was one Alfalfa and he was the other. That's an exceptional story. Do you know how the mistruth came to eventually be uncovered? It's mentioned in the updated version of the Maltin book, I believe. If I remember correctly, someone whose father was being conned out of money by this man managed to contact Maltin and/or the real George 'Spanky' MacFarland to bust the guy.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Mar 28, 2011 12:59:41 GMT -5
I hadn't thought of it before (even though I knew that he was alive), but Jerry Marenghi should definitely be included among the other thirty-five (thirty-six, if Billy Mindy is counted) surviving Our Gang actors. According to Wikipedia, he's also one of four confirmed remaining Munchkins from the 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz to still be alive. In addition, he continues to appear in occasional film roles to this day, including participation in two movies released in the past two years. He's now credited as Jerry Maren.
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Post by RJH on Apr 18, 2011 2:52:50 GMT -5
That is the funny thing about these impostors. They think that there were characters, played by multiple different people, instead of nicknames for specific kids, who basically played themselves, with the exception of Buckwheat being used more than once. Before Carl Switzer, there was no Alfalfa. After Carl Switzer, there was no Alfalfa. A nickname that did get used more than once is "Speck," as for Jay R. Smith, Donald Haines, and then Buddy McDonald in Hook and Ladder. But these were clearly all different characters. And besides Big Shot Jones, Big Shot was also the name of Buckwheat's little brother in Helping Hands, and the little kid in Going to Press and Unexpected Riches, the latter two films indicating no definite family relation.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on May 27, 2011 2:03:26 GMT -5
The way that the list of currently surviving Our Gang actors stands right now, Billy Naylor seems to be the oldest remaining Gangster, born on September 22, 1916.
I've looked online in the recent past to find out more information about Billy Naylor, but he seems to be a fairly obscure figure. I haven't been able to find out anything more about his career than that he is credited for appearing in a scattering of films in the 1920s and 1930s, including three Our Gang silents (Uncle Tom's Uncle, The Fourth Alarm and Telling Whoppers).
How sure are we that Billy Naylor is still alive? I've never heard any mention of a date of death for him, but given the lack of commonly available knowledge in regard to his life in recent decades, I just wonder if news of his passing would have been widely told. I certainly hope that he is still alive and well, but I'd like to know if anyone here can tell me more.
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Post by mtw12055 on May 27, 2011 15:26:58 GMT -5
The way that the list of currently surviving Our Gang actors stands right now, Billy Naylor seems to be the oldest remaining Gangster, born on September 22, 1916. I've looked online in the recent past to find out more information about Billy Naylor, but he seems to be a fairly obscure figure. I haven't been able to find out anything more about his career than that he is credited for appearing in a scattering of films in the 1920s and 1930s, including three Our Gang silents ( Uncle Tom's Uncle, The Fourth Alarm and Telling Whoppers). How sure are we that Billy Naylor is still alive? I've never heard any mention of a date of death for him, but given the lack of commonly available knowledge in regard to his life in recent decades, I just wonder if news of his passing would have been widely told. I certainly hope that he is still alive and well, but I'd like to know if anyone here can tell me more. The only other information I can add about Naylor is that he was one of the kids in the "Hey Fellas!" series.
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Post by rhapsody on May 27, 2011 18:56:29 GMT -5
I can't find any confirmation that Billy Naylor is still living. Assuming the available birth information is correct, he doesn't appear to be in the Social Security death database, but those records are not complete, particularly with regard to less recent deaths.
IMDb can't be relied upon for information on actors who dropped out of sight decades ago. Unless someone has some additional knowledge about him, I'd probably put him in the Whereabouts Unknown category.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on May 28, 2011 0:08:19 GMT -5
The only other information I can add about Naylor is that he was one of the kids in the "Hey Fellas!" series. Oh, yes, that's right. I hadn't noticed it before, but Billy Naylor is credited on IMDb as having been in five of the Hey Fellas! short films: The Klynick, Six Faces West, Ringling's Rivals, 13th Alarm and Tin Hoss, all with 1925 cited as their year of release. His IMDb page also says that he had a small part in the 1927 silent epic King of Kings. I'm surprised, actually, that I didn't notice he was part of the cast when I watched that movie last Christmas. I can't find any confirmation that Billy Naylor is still living. Assuming the available birth information is correct, he doesn't appear to be in the Social Security death database, but those records are not complete, particularly with regard to less recent deaths. IMDb can't be relied upon for information on actors who dropped out of sight decades ago. Unless someone has some additional knowledge about him, I'd probably put him in the Whereabouts Unknown category. I've been hesitant about dropping him from the ranks of the surviving Gangsters mainly because I've seen his name included in a couple of different places on the internet on lists of actors from the Our Gang series who are still living. I don't know of any compelling reason to believe that he's gone, but I also can't really find any proof that he's still alive, either. Do you think, then, that unless someone is able to provide stronger information to show that Billy Naylor still lives, he should be listed alongside Billy Mindy as "presumed alive"?
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Post by rhapsody on May 28, 2011 2:22:32 GMT -5
Unless someone has information about him post-1935, the source for those lists is probably IMDb. Given his relative obscurity, if he died years ago, it's quite possible no one has had the information regarding what happened to him to update the database. It's not uncommon. A good example is Jack Murphy who played one of the Darling boys in the 1924 version of Peter Pan. Until very recently, he was listed as still being alive on IMDb although he was born in 1911. He's now listed as having died in 1962. As Naylor would be turning 95 this year, I probably wouldn't presume he's alive unless there is something more to go on.
As for Billy Mindy, there is some evidence that he is probably still alive. I don't have any links handy right now, but if you search his real name you'll find info on someone who fits his profile pretty well. He was in a jazz band for many years and in recent years involved with a Pacific Palisades theater group.
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Post by bigshotjones on May 28, 2011 10:19:56 GMT -5
I found an address in an online phone directory (but not the phone #). I think it's the person. Anyone in LA wanna drive buy and drop in, saying "Billie!" Obviously, I'm not going to post it publicly, but if I can find it, anyone can.
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Post by rhapsody on May 28, 2011 11:53:03 GMT -5
I found an address in an online phone directory (but not the phone #). I think it's the person. Anyone in LA wanna drive buy and drop in, saying "Billie!" Obviously, I'm not going to post it publicly, but if I can find it, anyone can. Yes, that's where I started. There is actually good amount of bits and pieces info about Bill Minderhout on the net. Here's a posting from him on the Santa Monica High alumni site (with e-mail address) indicating he was in the Class of '49. Bill MINDERHOUT Hi to all 49'r. I'm well and healthy as 74 years can be. Playing jazz guitar in four different groups keeps me out of trouble. Due to retirement planning and dumb luck, I can now afford to be a "Starving Musician". With wife Lee (52 years) we travel a lot and play with our eight grandchildren. In June, 05 we will attend graduation ceremonies for our oldest, Tyler Burdick, Samohi '01, at U C Santa Cruz. then we will continue on to Yelm, Washington for Lee's 55th high school reunion. www.samohialumni.org/1949.html
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on May 28, 2011 12:58:15 GMT -5
It sounds to me, then, as if Billy Naylor perhaps belongs in the same general category as Scooter Lowry. We're not sure if they're alive or dead, or even where they've been or what they've been doing for the last several decades. Does that comparison sound about right?
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Post by rhapsody on May 28, 2011 13:08:56 GMT -5
It sounds to me, then, as if Billy Naylor perhaps belongs in the same general category as Scooter Lowry. We're not sure if they're alive or dead, or even where they've been or what they've been doing for the last several decades. Does that comparison sound about right? Agree. And unless we're missing something about Naylor, the odds of Scooter still being alive are probably a little bit higher as he was last sighted more recently (albeit in the 1950's!) and was several years younger than Naylor. And for what little it's worth, about 10 years ago I saw a posting somewhere from someone claiming to have once been a neighbor of Scooter's on Long Island. But I think they both belong in the MIA category.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on May 28, 2011 13:15:41 GMT -5
Okay. I'll wait a couple of days just in case someone here is able to come up with solid information to back the idea that Billy Naylor is still among us. If nothing surfaces to that end, then I'll take him off of the list of confirmed surviving Our Gang players.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on May 30, 2011 14:10:51 GMT -5
Yes, that's where I started. There is actually good amount of bits and pieces info about Bill Minderhout on the net. Here's a posting from him on the Santa Monica High alumni site (with e-mail address) indicating he was in the Class of '49. Bill MINDERHOUT Hi to all 49'r. I'm well and healthy as 74 years can be. Playing jazz guitar in four different groups keeps me out of trouble. Due to retirement planning and dumb luck, I can now afford to be a "Starving Musician". With wife Lee (52 years) we travel a lot and play with our eight grandchildren. In June, 05 we will attend graduation ceremonies for our oldest, Tyler Burdick, Samohi '01, at U C Santa Cruz. then we will continue on to Yelm, Washington for Lee's 55th high school reunion. www.samohialumni.org/1949.html We're fairly sure, then, that this is the same Billy Minderhout who appeared in the Our Gang films? I guess that there wouldn't be very many people named Billy Minderhout who are of the right age to be the actor. If the post on the SAMOHI website was written sometime in 2005 or 2006, then that would fit in with the previously established timeline for Billy Mindy as having been born in 1931. It would be helpful if a date were attached to his post, as was done with several of the others.
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