Our Gang: Encyclopedia II - Our Gang - Legacy and influence

Our Gang - Legacy and influence

The characters in this series became well-known cultural icons, and could often be identified solely by their first names. The characters of Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, Darla, and Froggy were especially well-known; though like many child actors they were subsequently typecast and had trouble outgrowing their Our Gang images.

The kids' work in the series went largely unrewarded in later years, although Spanky received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame posthumously in 1994. Neither he nor any of the other Our Gang kids ever got any residuals or royalties from reruns of the shorts or licensed products with their likenesses. The only remittances they received were their weekly salaries during their time in the gang, which ranged from $40 a week for newcomers to $300 or more a week for stars like Farina, Spanky, and Alfalfa ^[17].

One notable exception is Jackie Cooper, who was later nominated for an Oscar and had a full career as an adult actor; among other roles his best known character is probably Perry White in the Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. Robert Blake also went on to success as an adult in cinema (In Cold Blood) and more notably in television (Baretta). In 2002, Blake was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakely. He was acquitted of his charges on March 16, 2005.

The 1930 Our Gang short Pups is Pups was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004.

Our Gang - Imitators and frauds

Due to the popularity of Our Gang, a number of imitation kid comedy short film series were created by competing studios. Among the most notable of these are The Kiddie Troupers, featuring future comedian Eddie Bracken, Baby Burlesks, featuring Shirley Temple, the Buster Brown comedies (from which Our Gang received Pete the Pup and Gus Meins), and Our Gang's most successful competitor, the Toonerville Trolley-based Mickey McGuire series starring Mickey Rooney.

In later years, a large number of adults falsely claimed to have been members of the popular group. A long list of people, including persons famous in other capacities such as Nanette Fabray and Eddie Bracken, have all claimed to be or have been publicly called former Our Gang kids ^[18]. Bracken's official biography was once altered to state that he appeared in Our Gang instead of The Kiddie Troupers, although he himself had no knowledge of the change. There are many other persons who have falsely claimed to have been Our Gang kids such as Spanky, Alfalfa, Froggy, and often other characters that never existed.

Among the most notable Our Gang impostors is Jack Bothwell, who claimed to have portrayed a nonexistent character named "Freckles", and went so far as to appear on the game show To Tell The Truth in 1957 perpetuating this fraud. Another is Bill English, a grocery store employee who appeared on the October 5, 1990, episode of the ABC investigative television newsmagazine 20/20 claiming to have been Buckwheat. Following the broadcast, Spanky McFarland called ABC Networks and informed them of the truth, and in December, William Thomas, Jr., the son of the actual actor who played Buckwheat, filed a lawsuit against ABC for negligence.

Our Gang - Persons and entities named after Our Gang

A number of other groups, companies, and entities have been inspired by or named after Our Gang. For example, the folk-rock group Spanky and Our Gang was named in honor of the troupe, but had no other connection with it. In addition, there are a number of (unauthorized) Little Rascals and Our Gang restaurants and day care centers in various locations throughout the United States.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Legacy and influence", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki