RIP: SIDNEY KILBRICK

Sidney Kibrick, the second-to-last surviving child star from the Our Gang series of movie shorts, died January 2, according to friends. He was 97.

Born July 2, 1928, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kibrick moved with his family to Los Angeles at age five. He was discovered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where a film producer scouting children for the Our Gang comedies spotted him. Created by Hal Roach — who also produced films starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and other comedians of that era — the Our Gang shorts (later syndicated on television as The Little Rascals) were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the transition from the silent era to early sound.

Kibrick’s earliest screen appearance was a brief, non-speaking role as an extra in the feature film Dead End. He made his uncredited film debut in Out All Night in 1933 and appeared in several additional uncredited roles before being cast as a regular in the Our Gang series in 1935.

Initially unnamed, his character was later identified as “Woim,” the sidekick to the neighborhood bully Butch, played by Tommy Bond. Kibrick appeared in 27 Our Gang shorts. At the time, the featured Our Gang players included George “Spanky” McFarland, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas, Eugene “Porky” Lee, Darla Hood, and Darwood “Waldo” Kaye.

After leaving Our Gang, Kibrick made a handful of uncredited appearances in other films before retiring from acting. As an adult, he worked as a real estate developer.

Former child actor Peggy Lynch, who appeared in three Our Gang shorts, is now the last surviving cast member from the classic film series...

SIDNEY KIBRICK: THE LAST LITTLE RASCAL

As of the death of child star Robert Blake on March 9, 2023 - former actor Sidney Kibrick has become the last surviving member of the Our Gang series. Sidney most notably appeared in the Our Gang short subjects film series, over a ten-year period from 1933 and 1943.

Kibrick was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 2, 1928. He attended Mount Vernon Junior High. Kibrick made a brief non-dialogue appearance as an extra in the feature film Dead End, observed as one of three or so children huddled together during one of the river dock scenes. He made his uncredited film debut in Out all Night (1933), and after a few more uncredited roles was cast in 1935 in Our Gang, from 1937 to 1939, in that series he portrayed "Woim" (a vernacular pronunciation of "worm"), the sidekick of the neighborhood bully "Butch", played by Tommy Bond.

Kibrick worked as a real estate developer and architect after leaving show business in the 1940s. He kept in touch with Our Gang members at reunions, some of which he used to host. In 1991, he acknowledged that he had avoided the tragic lives that former child actors often ended up having as adults. As Sidney got older, his roles became limited. He made his last appearance on film un credited in the 1943 movie Keep 'Em Slugging.

Admittedly, Sidney stayed friends with George McFarland for years, but never liked Carl Switzer, who he refers to as being disagreeable. Sidney has looked back fondly on his time as a child actor, but knows he lucked out by having a normal adult life compared to some of his other Our Gang co-stars...

HAROLD SWITZER: ALFALFA'S BROTHER

It is not widely known but Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) from the Our Gang comedies had an older

brother - who also had a tragic end. Harold Frederick Switzer was the son of G. Frederick and Gladys Switzer of Paris, Illinois. Born on January 16, 1925 he and his young brother, Carl Switzer, became popular in Paris for their musical talents and performances. They both sang and played instruments in fairs and the carnival circuit, but in 1934, they headed to California to visit relatives and take a sightseeing tour, particularly around Hal Roach studios where the Our Gang shorts were being filmed.

It might have been fate or their father trying to steer them to greater success, but the boys' impromptu performance in the studio cafeteria impressed Hal Roach enough that they got to appear in the short, Beginner's Luck. 

Both Harold and Carl got acting contracts in the series, but it was Carl's comedic timing and look that made him the bigger star of the two; Harold pretty much did nothing but accompany his brother in singing acts or appear as an extra. Behind the scenes, his father often fought with the father of George McFarland as the two men argued the better talents of the two top Rascal stars. Harold was a background character through much of his brother's run in the series, even into the less-than-stellar M-G-M years, and when Carl was let go, Harold went with him. 

Afterward, as Carl was trying to find his identity after Our Gang, he returned to a normal life and left acting behind for a real job in the real world. He married and had three children while working for Speed Queen Company, installing and servicing washers and dryers, but like his brother, he seems to have inherited his father's argumentative behavior. 

In 1958, Carl had been shot to death in a disputed ambush over some money. Outliving his younger brother, in 1967, after killing a customer over a dispute, he himself drove to a remote area of Glendale, California and quietly took his own life. He died on April 14, 1967. He was quietly buried near his father and brother in Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery close to several other dearly departed stars of yesteryear...

RIP: DICKIE MOORE

Little Dickie Moore, the beloved former child star, has died. He was 89.

The husband of famed actress Jane Powell, Moore began his long career in show business when he was only 11 months old, playing John Barrymore as an infant in the 1927 silent film The Beloved Rogue. He would go on to appear in more than 100 films during the next 30 years and was later the longtime spokesman for AFTRA.

His many memorable screen performances included starring roles in Oliver Twist, Sergeant York, The Life Of Louis Pasteur and Heaven Can Wait. But he probably is best known for his appearances in the Our Gang comedies and as the boyfriend who gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss in the 1942 film Miss Annie Rooney.

He started working regularly at age 4, appearing in as many as 12 feature films a year. Among his early credits were Cecil B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man, So Big with Barbara Stanwyck and Blonde Venus with Marlene Dietrich and newcomer Cary Grant. In 1932, producer Hal Roach recruited him for Our Gang, where he worked with Spanky, Stymie and the kids for a year before resuming his career in feature films, including Little Men, Man’s Castle with Spencer Tracy, Peter Ibbetson with Gary Cooper, The Life Of Emile Zola with Paul Muni and The Bride Wore Red with Joan Crawford, among others.

After serving in World War II as a correspondent for Stars And Stripes in the Pacific Theater, Moore attended college in Los Angeles, majoring in journalism. He then returned to acting as Dick Moore and appeared in Out Of The Past with Robert Mitchum and in Tuna Clipper with Roddy MacDowell. He also co-produced, co-directed and acted in a short subject film called The Boy And The Eagle that was nominated for an Academy Award in 1949. His last film was The Member Of The Wedding in 1952.

Relocating to New York, he worked in radio, television, summer stock, Broadway and Off-Broadway, both as an actor and director, before his career took a new turn. He became involved with Actors’ Equity, and served on its governing Council before becoming editor of their magazine and public relations counsel. He left Equity in 1964 to become creative director for films, meetings and shows for a leading advertising agency and then was a senior associate with a major public relations firm. He formed his own public relations firm, Dick Moore and Associates, in 1966.

His 1984 book, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, is an autobiographical account of his childhood in the movie business that explores the hardships that many child actors face growing up in front of the cameras. He was also author of Opportunities In Acting Careers and co-author of a study titled “The Relationship Of Amateur To Professional In The American Theatre.”

Besides his wife, he is survived by his sister, publicist Pat Kingsley; his son, Kevin Moore; and numerous grandchildren, stepchildren and step-grandchildren...

THE CURSE OF THE OUR GANG KIDS

Our Gang (also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals) is a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way, as 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 first production at the Roach studio in 1922 was a series of silent short subjects. When Roach changed distributors from Pathé to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1927, and converted the series to sound in 1929, the series took off. Production continued at the Roach studio until 1938, when the series was sold to MGM, continuing to produce the comedies until 1944. The Our Gang series includes 220 shorts and one feature film, General Spanky, featuring over forty-one child actors. As MGM retained the rights to the Our Gang trademark following their purchase of the production rights, the 80 Roach-produced "talkies" were syndicated for television under the title The Little Rascals beginning in 1955...

More notable than the history of this children shorts is the fate that happened to many of the child stars. A lot of them met sad and tragic ends. Most of them did not have happy endings:

Pete the Pup – (? –1930) - An unknown assailant poisoned the original Pete.

Robert Hutchins "Wheezer" - (3/29/25 - 3/17/45) - Died in an airplane accident at the age of 19

William Robert Laughlin "Froggy" - (7/05/32 - 8/31/48) - Died in a bicycle accident at the age of 16.

Robert H. Young "Bonedust" – (9/15/17 - 9/10/51) - Died in a hotel fire, which started when he fell asleep smoking in bed

Dorothy Dandridge "Dorothy" – (11/09/23 – 9/08/65) - Committed suicide after an investment scheme caused her to go bankrupt
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Harold Switzer "Deadpan" or "Slim" - (1/16/25 - 4/14/67) – As was the case with his brother, Harold was also killed following a dispute with another man.

Scotty Beckett "Scotty" - (10/04/29 - 5/10/68) – Died in a Hollywood nursing home after being severely beaten two days prior to his admittance. A bottle of pills and a note were found at the scene, however the coroner never determined the exact cause of death. He was just 38 years old.

Darla Hood "Darla" - (11/08/31 - 6/13/79) - Hospitalized for hepatitis in 1979, she soon died under what was later ruled to be "suspicious circumstances."

Kendall McComas "Breezy Brisbane" - (10/29/16 - 10/15/81) - Two weeks before his 65th birthday and apparent forced retirement from the U.S. Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California, he committed suicide.

Robert Blake "Mickey" - (9/18/33 - present) - On April 18, 2002, he was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakely.

Darwood Kaye "Waldo" - (9/08/29 - 5/15/2002) - Killed by a hit and run driver while walking on the sidewalk.

Jay R. Smith "Jay R" - (8/29/15 - 10/05/2002) - Stabbed to death and left in the desert by a homeless man he had befriended.

Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer - (8/7/27 – 1/21/59) - Shot to death under mysterious circumstances.

As of June 2013, living Our Gang actors included Robert Blake, Sidney Kibrick, Jean Darling, Marianne Edwards, Dickie Moore, Jerry Tucker, Jackie Lynn Taylor, Lassie Lou Ahern, Mildred Kornman, and Leonard Landy...