“Cliff: So are you Spanky?
George McFarland: Nope.
Norm (after Cliff walks away) You are Spanky right?
George McFarland: Oh yeah.”
George McFarland’s final television appearance, on Cheers, as he lies to Cliff Claven who just told him he could talk to him for hours if he really was Spanky.
George Robert Philips McFarland, Sonny to his family, was one of four children of Virginia Winifred (Phillips) and Robert Emmett McFarland of Dallas, Texas.
The 1930 Dallas census shows Robert, Virginia, and 1-year-old George living as boarders at 233 W. Jefferson Street. The landlord is Hattie Phillips, Virginia’s mother. Normally the relationship to head of family in this case should read son-in-law, daughter, and grandson, but all are listed as boarders. Two other boarders in the home are Joseph Nicholson and Anne Nicholson.
Robert is an officer at a loan company and Joseph is an automobile salesman. Other occupations include two managers, another salesman, a chiropractor, a plumber, a mechanic, a carpenter, an insurance adjuster, and a stenographer. There are two German immigrants. 23 of the 50 residents are children under the age of 18.
Later life
George was a child model for a department store, Wonder Bread, and appeared on highway billboards. In 1931 his aunt sent his picture to Hal Roach Studios in response to their ad requesting photos of “cute kids” He was invited to a screen test and earned the role of Spanky (a name given him by a reporter, not as some reports say because his mother threatened to spank him if he misbehaved) in the Our Gang comedy series in 1932. He was a standout in the cast and by 1935 was the co-leader of the gang, along with Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer. The fathers of this pair fought constantly over screen time and billing for their sons.
He left Our Gang in 1938 and MGM began a search for his replacement. They eventually rehired McFarland and he worked in the series until 1942.
He found that he was permanently typecast in the public’s mind as Spanky. He joined the Air Force in 1952. Upon leaving the Air Force he worked at a soft drink company, a hamburger stand, and a popsicle factory. He sold wine, appliances, electronics, and furniture. He operated a restaurant/nightclub. He began work at Philco-Ford and advanced to the position of national sales training director.
During all of this time, he was making appearances based on the Spanky character. Unlike many actors who ran into problems trying to use their character’s name in later life, such as Clayton Moore – The Lone Ranger, McFarland had been given the right to the name in one of his early studio contracts. He primarily used the name to raise money for charities in golf tournaments. He ran his own charity tournament in Marion, Ohio, for 16 years. He appeared on The Mike Douglas Show with Our Gang cast member Darla Hood and William “Buckwheat” Thomas. His final television appearance was in 1993 on Cheers.
He died of “a heart attack or an aneurysm” at his home in 1993. In 1994, he joined Jackie Cooper as the only other Our Gang cast member to receive a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
Other happenings on October 2, 1928:
- Arvid Lindman became Prime Minister of Sweden for the second time.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt was unanimously selected by Democratic Party leaders as a candidate for New York governor. Roosevelt initially declined consideration for the nomination due to health concerns.
- The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin sailed across the English Channel and over parts of England during test flights as it prepared to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
- Josemaría Escrivá had a vision in which he said that he ‘saw’ the Opus Dei (Latin for “The Work of God”), a revelation of God’s plan for Christians. Thus, the founding date of this Catholic institution is said to be October 2.
Tomorrow – Look homeward, you can’t go
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Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 