Bobbie Beard (August 2, 1930 – October 16, 1999) was an American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

, best known for portraying "Cotton" in several ''

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 ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s from 1932 to 1934. He was a native of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. His older brother was Matthew "Stymie" Beard, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters.gideonseniors1959.com
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''Our Gang'' years

As older brother Stymie was the main breadwinner for the Beard family, his success with the ''Our Gang'' series opened the door for his siblings. Bobbie Beard appeared as Stymie's younger brother in '' Hi'-Neighbor!'', ''

Forgotten Babies ''Forgotten Babies'' is a 1933 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Plot The children are taking care of their baby brothers and sisters on a Saturday, but would much rather go swimming. They blackmail Spanky into doin ...

'', '' Fish Hooky'', '' A Lad an' a Lamp'' and '' Birthday Blues''. His most memorable appearance was in ''A Lad an' a Lamp'', in which

Spanky McFarland 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 ...

keeps wishing that Cotton could be a monkey. Despite his notable presence in several films, Beard never spoke a word.

Later years and death

After departing ''Our Gang'', Beard became an auction dealer in the Los Angeles area. In later years, Beard worked at the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles and became good friends with Groucho Marx. He later served in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, and spent his final years working for the Los Angeles School Board. Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). ''The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang'', p. 260. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. Beard died on October 16, 1999.

References

External links

* American male child actors 1930 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American male actors Our Gang {{US-film-actor-1930s-stub