Eugene W. Jackson II (December 25, 1916 – October 26, 2001) was an American

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

who was a regular of the ''

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, who also pr ...

'' short series during the silent

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

era.

Career

When he joined the gang, Jackson replaced the series' first black cast member, Ernie Morrison who was billed in the series as Sunshine Sammy, Jackson's characters nickname was "Pineapple" because of his haircut's similarity to the shape of the pineapple fruit. He played the character "Humidor" in one of

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

's most successful films, '' Little Annie Rooney'' (1925). A large film poster of the cast of '' Little Annie Rooney'', including Jackson, hangs in the lobby of the Mary Pickford Theatre of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

in Hollywood. Jackson also starred in ''

Hearts in Dixie ''Hearts in Dixie'', a 1929 American film starring Stepin Fetchit, was one of the first (sound film, All-Talking) sound films, big-studio productions to boast a predominantly African-American cast. This musical film celebrates African-American ...

'' (1929), one of the first all-talking, big-studio productions to boast a predominately African-American cast. He was the first African-American child to have a speaking part in a major motion picture. In television, Jackson was a recurring character on '' Julia'', the first network sitcom to have a female African-American lead,

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll ( ; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Carroll was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards for her stage and screen performances, incl ...

. Jackson played Julia's uncle. Jackson's last major feature film was ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

'' (1991) with

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress, director and model. She is best known for playing Morticia Addams in the ''The Addams Family'' and '' The Addams Family Values'', as well as often portraying eccentric and distincti ...

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen. He started his career in the Public Theater before transitioning to film. He ...

and

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...

. He played a one-armed musician. Jackson wrote an autobiography in 1999 that contains pictures from his career in show business.

Death

Jackson died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

on October 26, 2001. He was 84."Eugene Jackson, 84, Known For 'Our Gang' Films"
''New York Times''. Retrieved 2017-03-23.

Partial filmography

* '' Penrod and Sam'' (1923) - Verman * '' Her Reputation'' (1923) - Boy pushed into pond * '' Boy of Mine'' (1923) - Little Boy (uncredited) * '' The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924) - Child (uncredited) * '' Little Annie Rooney'' (1925) - Humidor (uncredited) * '' Flirty Four-Flushers'' (1926, Short) - Boy Eating Watermelon (uncredited) * ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' (1927) - Child (uncredited) * '' Little Mickey Grogan'' (1927) - Dancing Black Boy (uncredited) * ''

'' (1929) - Chinquapin * '' Dixiana'' (1930) - Cupid - Plantation House Boy (uncredited) * '' Cimarron'' (1931) - Isaiah * '' Sporting Blood'' (1931) - Sam "Sammy" * '' Sporting Chance'' (1931) - Horseshoe * ''

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

'' (1931) - Israel Polk * '' Ladies Crave Excitement'' (1935) - Lightcrust - Horse Groom (uncredited) * '' Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935) - Eightball * ''

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

'' (1936) - Iodine * '' The Lonely Trail'' (1936) - Harmonica Player / Dancer * ''

Hearts in Bondage ''Hearts in Bondage'' is a 1936 American black-and-white war drama film directed by Lew Ayres for Republic Pictures. Set during the American Civil War, the film depicts the Union Navy's deliberate sinking of , the Confederate States Navy's sa ...

'' (1936) - Sam (uncredited) * '' Guns and Guitars'' (1936) - Eightball * '' Midnight Court'' (1937) - Garfield Brown (uncredited) * '' It Can't Last Forever'' (1937) - Jackson Brothers Act (uncredited) * '' Blonde Trouble'' (1937) - Bootblack (uncredited) * '' Wine, Women and Horses'' (1937) - Eight Ball * '' Thoroughbreds Don't Cry'' (1937) - Black Stable Boy (uncredited) * '' The Buccaneer'' (1938) - James Smith, a Servant * '' Arrest Bulldog Drummond'' (1938) - Hotel Page Boy (uncredited) * '' Tom Sawyer, Detective'' (1938) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

'' (1938) - Jimmy (uncredited) * '' Rhythm Rodeo'' (1938) - Tap Dancer * '' The Lady's from Kentucky'' (1939) - Winfield (uncredited) * ''

Reform School A reform school was a Prison, penal institution, generally for teenagers, mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies, reformatory, reformatories (commonly called reform schools) were set up from 1854 onward f ...

'' (1939) - Pete * '' Boy Friend'' (1939) - Porter (uncredited) * '' Television Spy'' (1939) - Tommy (uncredited) * '' The Honeymoon's Over'' (1939) - Parking Man (uncredited) * '' Seventeen'' (1940) - Attendant (uncredited) * '' Sporting Blood'' (1940) - Sam - Lockwood's Horse Groom (uncredited) * '' Melody and Moonlight'' (1940) - Dancer (uncredited) * '' Golden Hoofs'' (1941) - Curly (uncredited) * '' Unfinished Business'' (1941) - Bootblack (uncredited) * ''

Reap the Wild Wind ''Reap the Wild Wind'' is a 1942 American adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, and Paulette Goddard, with a supporting cast featuring Raymond Massey, Robert Preston (actor), Robert Pres ...

'' (1942) - Dr. Jepson's Black Servant (uncredited) * ''

Take My Life ''Take My Life'' is a 1947 British crime film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt and Marius Goring. It was adapted from Winston Graham's 1947 novel of the same name. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on locati ...

'' (1942) - Bill, Harlem Tuff-Kid Gang Member * '' Reveille with Beverly'' (1943) - Franklin Delano Lincoln Van Buren Jones (uncredited) * '' What's Buzzin', Cousin?'' (1943) - Bellboy (uncredited) * '' Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!'' (1948) - Stable Hand - Tony (uncredited) * '' The Story of Seabiscuit'' (1949) - Stablehand (uncredited) * '' The Killer That Stalked New York'' (1950) - Bootblack (uncredited) * ''

Artists and Models ''Artists and Models'' is a 1955 American musical romantic comedy film in VistaVision directed by Frank Tashlin, marking Martin and Lewis's 14th feature together as a team. The film co-stars Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone, with Eva Gabor ...

'' (1955) - Street Saxophonist (uncredited) * '' Jeanne Eagels'' (1957) - Piccaninny (uncredited) * '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958) - Waiter (uncredited) * ''

King Creole ''King Creole'' is a 1958 American Musical film, musical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the 1952 novel ''A Stone for Danny Fisher'' by Harold Robbins. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, W ...

'' (1958) - Saxophonist in Blue Shade (uncredited) * ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

'' (1959) - Security Guard at auction (uncredited) * '' The Gene Krupa Story'' (1959) - Saxophone Player (uncredited) * ''

The Apartment ''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, with Ray Walston and Edie ...

'' (1960) - Office Worker (uncredited) * ''

Two Weeks in Another Town ''Two Weeks in Another Town'' is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson. The supporting players include Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosann ...

'' (1962) - Commuter at Airport (uncredited) * '' Critic's Choice'' (1963) - Audience Member (uncredited) * ''

Robin and the 7 Hoods ''Robin and the 7 Hoods'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bing Crosby. It features Peter Falk and Barbara Rush, with an uncredited cameo by Edward G. Rob ...

'' (1964) - Congregation Member (uncredited) * '' Looking for Love'' (1964) - Office Worker (uncredited) * '' Your Cheatin' Heart'' (1964) - Theatre Patron (uncredited) * '' Zebra in the Kitchen'' (1965) - Newsboy (uncredited) * '' Shenandoah'' (1965) - Gabriel * '' Wild in the Streets'' (1968) - Congressman (uncredited) * '' Support Your Local Gunfighter'' (1971) - Waiter Aboard Train (uncredited) * '' Chandler'' (1971) - Shoe Shine Boy * '' The Carey Treatment'' (1972) - Doctor (uncredited) * '' Black Girl'' (1972) - Parishioner (uncredited) * '' Coffy'' (1973) - Man at Rally (uncredited) * ''

40 Carats ''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks down ...

'' (1973) - Party Dancer (uncredited) * '' Cleopatra Jones'' (1973) - Henry * '' The Day of the Locust'' (1975) - Doorman (uncredited) * ''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

'' (1976) - Reporter (uncredited) * '' Sparkle'' (1976) - Hotel Bellboy (uncredited) * '' Treasure of Matecumbe'' (1976) - Man Dancing in the Street (uncredited) * '' Five Days from Home'' (1978) - Inmate (uncredited) * '' Escape from Alcatraz'' (1979) - Inmate #7 * ''

American Gigolo ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story of a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...

'' (1980) - Bootblack * ''

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met ...

'' (1983) - Old Black Man * '' Swing Shift'' (1984) - Bartender at Kelly's * '' Life Stinks'' (1991) - Office Janitor (uncredited) * ''

'' (1991) - One-Armed Bass Player

References

Bibliography

* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 74–75.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Eugene American male child actors American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from Buffalo, New York 1916 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American male actors African-American male child actors 20th-century African-American male actors Hal Roach Studios actors