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Spanky
George McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for starring as a child as Spanky in the ''Our Gang'' series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Our Gang'' shorts were later syndicated to television as ''The Little Rascals''. Early life McFarland was born in Dallas, Texas, on October 2, 1928, to Virginia Winifred (née Phillips) and Robert Emmett McFarland. He had three siblings: Thomas ("Tommy", who appeared in a few ''Our Gang'' episodes as "Dynamite"), Amanda, and Roderick ("Rod"). He attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Texas. Before joining the ''Our Gang'' comedies, "Sonny", as he was called by his family, modeled children's clothing for a Dallas department store and was also seen around the Dallas area on highway billboards and in print advertisements for Wonder Bread. This established Sonny early on in the local public's eye as an adorable child model and provided experience before cameras. Career '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Gang
''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the producer of the Laurel and Hardy films, ''Our Gang'' shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. ''Our Gang'' is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way; Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children, rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. The series also broke new ground by portraying white and black children interacting as equals during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States. Maltin, Leonard (1994). ''The Little Rascals: Remastered and Uncut'', vol. 22, introduction. Videorecording. New York: Cabin Fever Entertainment/ Hallmark Entertainment. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanky (film)
''Spanky'' is a 1932 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 113th (25th talking episode) ''Our Gang'' short that was released. The film was based on ''Our Gang'' co-star George "Spanky" McFarland. Plot Although this is a remake of a 1920s silent ''Our Gang'' episode called '' Uncle Tom's Uncle'', the main character is Spanky. Early scenes of this film were part of Spanky's screen test taken back in April 1931 during his first visit to Hal Roach Studios, which included him "bug hunting." Meanwhile, Spanky's brother Breezy Brisbane and the rest of the gang are putting on a play of Uncle Tom's Cabin. At the same time, Brisbane is forced to babysit Spanky while their mother goes on a shopping trip. Also, Spanky's father refuses to spend money in order to keep the house clean, although he has an enormous amount of cash hidden in a secret door embedded in the wall. Spanky disrupts the play during the whole time and the play itself is a flop and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Gang Follies Of 1938
''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' (later reissued as simply ''Follies of 1938'') is a 1937 American musical short subject, the 161st short subject entry in Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') series. Directed by Gordon Douglas as a sequel to 1935's '' Our Gang Follies of 1936'', the two-reel short was released to theaters on December 18, 1937 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Deriving its title from the concurrent MGM feature film '' The Broadway Melody of 1938'', ''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' is a spoof of the ''Broadway Melody'' films and other movie musicals of the time. In the film, Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) decides to quit a pop music revue put on by Spanky (George McFarland) and become an opera singer, famously singing a pastiche song entitled "The Barber of Seville" several times throughout the film. The bulk of the film is made up of a dream sequence, in which Alfalfa imagines himself twenty years later failing as an opera singer, while Spanky owns a Broadway nightclub with a lavish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Spanky
''General Spanky'' is a 1936 American comedy film produced by Hal Roach. A spin-off of Roach's popular '' Our Gang'' short subjects, the film stars George McFarland, Phillips Holmes, Rosina Lawrence, Billie Thomas and Carl Switzer. Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas, it was originally released to theaters on December 11, 1936, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ( MGM). This film, a Civil War period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move ''Our Gang'' into features, as the double feature and block booking were slowly smothering his short subjects production. The film was a box-office disappointment and, after another year of shorts production, Roach ended up selling the ''Our Gang'' unit to MGM in May 1938. When Roach bought the rights to the back catalog of ''Our Gang'' films he had produced from MGM in 1949, he did not buy back the rights to ''General Spanky''. The film was part of the MGM catalog acquired in 1986 by Turner Entertainment, which h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kentucky Kernels
''Kentucky Kernels'' is a 1934 American comedy directed by George Stevens and starring the comedy duo of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. The screenplay was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Fred Guiol, from a story by Kalmar and Ruby. Plot The Great Elmer and Company, two out-of-work magicians, help lovelorn Jerry Bronson adopt Spanky Milford, to distract him. When Bronson makes up and elopes, the pair are stuck with the little boy. But Spanky inherits a Kentucky fortune, so they head south to Banesville, where the Milfords and Wakefields are conducting a bitter feud. Cast * Bert Wheeler as Willie Doyle * Robert Woolsey as Elmer Dugan * Mary Carlisle as Gloria Wakefield * 'Spanky' McFarland as Spanky * Noah Beery as Colonel Wakefield * Lucille LaVerne as Aunt Hannah Milford * Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Baxter * Sleep 'n' Eat William Best (May 27, 1913 – February 27, 1962), known professionally as Willie Best or Sleep n' Eat, was an American television an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Came The Brawn
''Came the Brawn'' is a 1938 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 165th entry in the ''Our Gang'' series. Notes ''Came the Brawn'' marked Spanky McFarland's, Tommy "Butch" Bond's, Sidney "Woim" Kibrick's, and Darwood "Waldo" Kaye's final appearances in the Hal Roach-produced ''Our Gang'' shorts. Butch, Woim, and Waldo were recurring characters and would not be needed for the last three episodes but would all return for '' The Little Ranger'', the first ''Our Gang'' short produced after the series' sale to MGM in mid-1938. Spanky's contract expired after the completion of ''Came the Brawn'', and he officially retired from the series at this time. After going on a personal tour, Spanky rejoined ''Our Gang'' in the late summer of 1938, after its transfer to MGM. He would remain another four and a half years. Cast The Gang * Darla Hood as Darla * Eugene Lee as Porky * Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KOTV-DT
KOTV-DT (channel 6) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Griffin Media alongside Muskogee-licensed CW affiliate KQCW-DT (channel 19) and radio stations KTSB (1170 AM), KBEZ (92.9 FM), KVOO-FM (98.5), KXBL (99.5 FM) and KHTT (106.9 FM). All of the outlets share studios at the Griffin Media Center on North Boston Avenue and East Cameron Street in the downtown neighborhood's Tulsa Arts District; KOTV's transmitter is located on South 273rd East Avenue (just north of the Muskogee Turnpike) in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. History Early history On March 24, 1948, the Cameron Television Corporation (originally doing business as George E. Cameron Inc.) submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a construction permit to build and license to operate a broadcast television station in Tulsa that would transmit on VHF channel 6. The company was owned by George E. Cameron Jr., a Texas-born independ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darla Hood
Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the ''Our Gang'' series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of music teacher Elizabeth Davner, and James Claude Hood, who worked in a bank. ''Our Gang'' Hood's mother introduced her to singing and dancing at an early age, taking her to lessons in Oklahoma City. Just after her third birthday she was taken to New York City, where she was seen by Joe Rivkin, a casting director for Hal Roach Studios, who arranged a screen test. She was then taken to Culver City, California, to appear in the ''Our Gang'' movies. She played ''Darla'' in ''Our Gang'' except for her Our Gang debut in which her character's name was "Cookie". She made her debut at age four in the 1935 film '' Our Gang Follies of 1936'' and was soon given a role in '' The Bohemian Girl'' with Laurel and Hardy. From 1935 to 1941, she continued to play in ''Our Gang''. Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter, who was the founder of the namesake Hal Roach Studios. Roach was active in the industry from the 1910s to the 1990s and is best remembered today for producing a number of successes including the Laurel and Hardy franchise, the films of entertainer Charley Chase, and the ''Our Gang'' short film comedy series. Early life and career Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York, to Charles Henry Roach, whose father was born in Wicklow, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Mabel Gertrude Bally, her father John Bally being from Switzerland. A presentation by the American humorist Mark Twain impressed Roach as a young Primary education, grade school student. After an adventurous youth that took him to Alaska, Hal Roach arrived in Hollywood, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unexpected Riches
''Unexpected Riches'' is a 1942 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Herbert Glazer. It was the 211th Our Gang short (211th episode, 122nd talking short, 123rd talking episode, and 42nd MGM produced episode). Plot Weighing themselves on a penny machine, the gang receives a fortune card predicting that they will receive "unexpected riches." Acting upon this, the kids decide to dig for buried treasure, using a fraudulent map provided by one of their wise-guy acquaintances. Though the treasure hunt comes a-cropper, the fortune card's prediction comes true in an unexpected fashion. Cast The Gang * Bobby Blake as Mickey * Billy Laughlin as Froggy * George McFarland as Spanky * Billie Thomas as Buckwheat Additional cast * Barry Downing as Ken Reed * Emmet Vogan as Mr. Reed * Ernie Alexander as Mickey's father * Margaret Bert as Mickey's mother * Willa Pearl Curtis as Big Shot's mother * Symona Boniface as Person in Froggy's dream * Stanley Logan as Person in Froggy's dream * Er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region between Dallas and Fort Worth and includes a larger portion of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport than other cities. The city is adjacent to Grapevine Lake, a large reservoir impounded by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1952 that serves as a source of water and recreational area. History In October 1843, General Sam Houston and fellow Republic of Texas Commissioners camped at Tah-Wah-Karro Creek, also known as Grape Vine Springs, to meet with leaders of 10 Indian nations. This meeting culminated in the signing of a treaty of "peace, friendship, and commerce," which opened the area for homesteaders. The settlement that emerged was named Grape Vine due to its location on the appropriately-named Grape Vine Prairie near Grape Vine Springs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mike Douglas Show
''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into national syndication and was moved to Philadelphia in 1965. The program remained on television until 1981. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting, and for much of its run, originated from studios at two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia. History in Cleveland ''The Mike Douglas Show'' premiered on KYW-TV in Cleveland on December 11, 1961, and featured a mix of light banter with guests and musical performances, along with more serious interviews with prominent newsmakers. Local entertainment shows were popular in the early days of television. Joining Douglas as part of the everyday lineup was the Ellie Frankel Trio, a local jazz group. Instead of an opening comedic monologue (as was the case with ''The Tonigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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