Our Gang personnel
This page is a listing of the significant cast and crew for Hal Roach's Our Gang short subjects series, which ran in movie theatres from 1922 to 1944.
Our Gang kids (and pets)
Our Gang's lineup changed frequently; as kids left the series or outgrew their roles, new kids were recruited to join the cast. Some of the cast additions were direct changings-of-the-guard, and those are annotated accordingly. The groupings are not meant to represent a cast lineup for a particular Our Gang short from the period it represents, but rather a more general listing of the main members of the cast during the period.
Early silents period: 1922–1926
- Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison
- Jackie Condon
- Mickey Daniels
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Peggy Cartwright
- Jack Davis
- Mary Kornman
- Andy Samuel
- Joe Cobb
- Jannie "Mango" Hoskins
- Sonny Boy "Sing Joy" Warde
- Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson (replaced Ernie in 1924)
- Johnny Downs
- Pal the Dog
- Dinah the Mule
1926–1929
Late silents period
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Jackie Condon
- Joe Cobb
- Jannie "Mango" Hoskins
- Jay R. Smith (replaced Mickey in 1926)
- Bobby "Bonedust" Young
- Elmer "Scooter" Lowry
- Mildred Kornman
- Jean Darling (replaced Mary in 1926)
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Harry Spear (replaced Scooter in 1927)
- Mary Ann Jackson
- Dinah the Mule
- Pete the Pup (called Minnie in at least one film, and Pansy in a handful of other films)
1929–1931
Early sound period
- Allen "Farina" Hoskins
- Mary Ann Jackson
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Bobby "Bonedust" Young
- Norman "Chubby" Chaney (replaced Joe Cobb in 1929)
- Jackie Cooper
- Donald Haines
- Dorothy DeBorba
- Buddy McDonald
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard (joined in 1930, became Farina's replacement in 1931)
- Shirley Jean Rickert
- Pete the Pup (the original Pete was poisoned in 1930; trainer Harry Lucenay used Pete's offspring [who all appear in Pups is Pups] in the series after they reached maturity starting in 1931)
- Dinah the Mule
1931–1933
Early transitional period
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
- Dorothy DeBorba
- Donald Haines
- Sherwood Bailey
- Kendall "Breezy Brisbane" McComas (Was Jackie Cooper's replacement until Dickie Moore took over)
- Jerry Tucker
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Dickie Moore (Became Jackie Cooper's replacement)
- Jacquie Lyn
- John "Uh-huh" Collum
- Tommy Bond
- Pete the Pup (Lucenay left the Roach studio in 1932; unrelated, dissimilar bulldogs played Pete in subsequent films)
1934–1935
Mid-transitional period
- Matthew "Stymie" Beard
- Jerry Tucker
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Tommy Bond (left in 1934, would return in 1937 as "Butch")
- Wally Albright
- Scotty Beckett
- Jackie Lynn Taylor
- Marianne Edwards
- Leonard Kibrick
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas (joined in 1934, became Stymie's replacement in 1935)
- Philbrook Lyons
- Alvin Buckelew
- Pete the Pup
1935
Late transitional period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Scotty Beckett
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Jerry Tucker
- Leonard Kibrick
- Marianne Edwards
- Alvin Buckelew
- Sidney Kibrick
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer (joined in 1935, became Scotty Beckett's replacement in 1936)
- Harold "Slim" Switzer
- Darla Hood
- Eugene "Porky" Lee
- Patsy May
- Pete the Pup
1936–1939
Late Roach/Early MGM period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Darla Hood
- Eugene "Porky" Lee
- Tommy "Butch" Bond (replaced Leonard in 1937)
- Sidney "The Woim" Kibrick
- Darwood "Waldo" Kaye
- Gary "Junior" Jasgur
- Henry "Spike" Lee
- Leonard Landy
- Shirley "Muggsy" Coates
- Patsy May
- Harold Switzer
- Pete the Pup
1939–1942
Transitional MGM period
- George "Spanky" McFarland
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
- Darla Hood
- Leonard Landy
- Harold Switzer
- Mickey Gubitosi (replaced first Junior, and then Porky, in 1939)
- Billy "Froggy" Laughlin (joined in 1940, replaced Alfalfa in 1941)
- Janet Burston (made guest appearances from 1940 until she replaced Darla in 1942)
1942–1944
Late MGM period
- Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
- Billy "Froggy" Laughlin
- Bobby "Mickey" Blake (Gubitosi changed his name in 1942)
- Janet Burston
- Mickey "Happy" Laughlin
- Violet the Goat
Other notable Our Gang kids
- Leon Janney, a successful actor and radio personality had a prominent role in 1930's Bear Shooters.
- Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, made her film debut as an extra in Teacher's Beau in 1935.
- Annabella Logan, later famous as jazz singer Annie Ross, sings one of the musical numbers in Our Gang Follies of 1938.
- Philip Hurlic, a successful child actor, had small parts in several late-1930s Our Gang shorts, and temporarily took Buckwheat's place as a member of the main cast for 1938's Feed 'em and Weep.
- Sonny Bupp, also a successful child actor, played bit roles in several late-1930s Our Gang shorts, including a prominent role in 1938's Men in Fright.
- Juanita Quigley, a successful child actress, appeared in two MGM Our Gang shorts as "Sally": 1940's The New Pupil and 1942's Going to Press.
- Darryl Hickman, a successful child actor, made a featured guest appearance in Going to Press. His younger brother Dwayne Hickman, later famous as the star of TV's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, had a bit part in another 1942 short, Melodies Old and New.
Other recurring Our Gang members
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Recurring adult actors
Many of the regular adult actors in Our Gang also frequently appeared in other Hal Roach comedies, including the Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy series:
- William Gillespie as various characters (1922-1931)
- Helen Gilmore as various characters (1922-1930)
- Charles Stevenson as various characters (1922-1923)
- Dick Gilbert as various characters, notably the kind man at the dog pound in The Pooch (1922-1933)
- Florence Hoskins as various characters, usually Farina's mother (1922-1928)
- Joseph Morrison (also known as Ernie Morrison, Sr.) as various characters, usually Ernie and Farina's father
- Katherine Grant as various characters (1922-1925)
- Richard Daniels as various characters, usually Mickey Daniels' father (1922-1926)
- George B. French as various characters, notably Professor Clements in Thundering Fleas and Professor Fleece in Shivering Spooks (1923-1928)
- Lyle Tayo as various characters, usually one of the kids' mothers (1924-1934)
- Gus Leonard as various characters, notably Old Cap in Mush and Milk and Grandpa Gus in The Lucky Corner (1925-1936)
- Jimmy Finlayson as various characters, most notably the schoolteacher in Seeing the World and Mr. Brown in Mush and Milk (1925-1933)
- Martha Sleeper as various characters (1925-1927)
- Charlie Hall as various characters (1926-1936)
- Charles McAvoy as various characters, notably Jackie Cooper's father in When the Wind Blows (1926-1934)
- Louise Emmons as the headmistress in Bring Home the Turkey and Mush and Milk
- Budd Fine as various characters, notably the dog catcher in The Pooch (1928-1932)
- Otto Fries as various characters, notably the orphan asylum agent in Little Daddy, the blacksmith in Readin' and Writin', and Spanky's father in The Kid from Borneo (1929-1933)
- Edgar Kennedy as Kennedy the cop (1929–1930)
- June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher (1930–1932)
- Creighton Hale as various characters, notably Miss Crabtree's brother in School's Out (1930-1932)
- Margaret Mann as the kids' adopted Grandma in Helping Grandma and Fly My Kite (1931)
- May Wallace as various characters, usually one of the kids' mothers (1931-1937)
- Harry Bernard as various characters (1931-1935)
- James Mason as Dan, Grandma's son-in-law in Fly My Kite
- Mae Busch as Dan's new wife in Fly My Kite (1931)
- Johnnie Mae Beard as Stymie's mother in Big Ears]] and Free Wheeling (1931-1932)
- Billy Gilbert as various characters, notably the sea captain in Shiver My Timbers and Spanky's father in Spanky (1931-1933)
- Estelle Ettere as various characters, notably Dickie Moore's nurse in Free Wheeling
- Lillian Rich as Dickie Moore's mother in Free Wheeling and Birthday Blues (1932)
- James C. Morton as various characters, notably Mr. Morton in Mike Fright and the piano player in Beginner's Luck (1932-1935)
- Emerson Treacy and Gay Seabrook as Spanky's parents in Bedtime Worries and Wild Poses (1933)
- Billy Bletcher as various characters, notably Bill the golfer in Divot Diggers, the voice of the giant in Mama's Little Pirate, and Froggy's father (and the voice of his mother) in Robot Wrecks
- William Wagner as various characters, notably Leonard Kibrick's father in For Pete's Sake! and The Lucky Corner (1934-1936)
- Clarence Wilson as various grouchy characters, most notably Mr. Crutch in Shrimps for a Day. (1934-1941)
- George and Olive Brasno (1934's Shrimps for a Day and 1936's Arbor Day)
- Johnny Arthur as Spanky's father in Anniversary Trouble and Darla's father in Night 'n' Gales and Feed 'em and Weep
- Claudia Dell as Spanky's mother in Mama's Little Pirate and Anniversary Trouble (1935)
- Hattie McDaniel as Buckwheat's mother in Anniversary Trouble and Arbor Day (1935–1936)
- Rosina Lawrence as Miss Lawrence, the schoolteacher (1936–1937)
- Wilma Cox as various characters, usually as a mother to one of the kids (1937-1938)
- William Newell and Barbara Bedford as Alfalfa's parents (1938–1940)
- Louis Jean Heydt and Peggy Shannon as Mickey Gubitosi's parents in Dad for a Day and All About Hash (1939-1940)
- Walter Wills as Froggy's Uncle Walt in (1941-1942)
Other notable adult actors
- Will Rogers as Himself/Jubilo in Jubilo, Jr. (1924)
- Charley Chase as various characters (1924-1931)
- Oliver Hardy as various characters (1926-1933)
- Stan Laurel as an Englishman in Seeing the World and a baby in Wild Poses
- Stepin Fetchit as Himself in A Tough Winter (1930)
- Blanche Payson as Wheezer and Dorothy's step-mother in Dogs is Dogs (1931)
- Tiny Lawrence and Major Mite as the "fidgets" in Free Eats
- Hooper Atchley as Dickie Moore's father in Birthday Blues (1932)
- John Lester Johnson as "Bumbo," the Wild Man in The Kid from Borneo
- Franklin Pangborn as Otto Phocus the photographer in Wild Poses (1933)
- Don Barclay as Barclay in Honky Donkey (1934)
- Kitty Kelly as Spanky's mother in Beginner's Luck (1935)
- Tom Dugan as the aggravated golfer in Divot Diggers
- Thomas Pogue as Mr. Jackson in Divot Diggers
- Zeffie Tilbury as the kids' adopted Grandma in Second Childhood (1936)
- Marie Blake as Aunt Penelope in Alfalfa's Aunt (1939)
- Paul Hurst as the bus conductor in Goin' Fishin' (1940)
- Thurston Hall as Mr. Morton in Kiddie Kure (1940)
- Christian Rub as Mr. Swenson, the janitor in Come Back, Miss Pipps
- Stephen McNally as Bill Patterson in Rover's Big Chance
Directors
Hal Roach Studio
- Fred Newmeyer (Our Gang, The Pinch Singer and Arbor Day, 1937 short Mail and Female, and General Spanky)
- Robert F. McGowan (1922–1933; Divot Diggers)
- Robert A. McGowan (1926–1930) (Robert F.'s nephew, usually credited as "Anthony Mack")
- Ray McCarey (Free Eats)
- Gus Meins (1934–1936)
- Gordon Douglas (1936–1938 and General Spanky)
- James W. Horne (When the Wind Blows)
- James Parrott (Washee Ironee)
- Nate Watt (Three Men in a Tub and The Awful Tooth)
MGM
- Gordon Douglas (The Little Ranger, Aladdin's Lantern)
- George Sidney (1938–1939)
- Edward L. Cahn (1939–1942; Three Smart Guys)
- Herbert Glazer (1942–1943)
- Sam Baerwitz (Calling All Kids)
- Cy Endfield (Radio Bugs, Dancing Romeo, Tale of a Dog)
Cinemaphotographers
- Harry W. Gerstand
- Art Lloyd
- F.E. Hershey
- Ernest "Hap" Depew
- Francis Corby
- Kenneth Peach
- Harry Forbes
- Walter Lundin
- Milton Krasner
- Norbert Brodine
- Len Powers
Film Editors
- Richard Currier
- T.J. Crizer
- Bert Jordan
- William Zeigler
- Jack Ogilive
- William Turhune
- Louis McManus
- Robert Crandall
- Ray Snyder
Recording Engineers/Sound
- James Greene
- Harry Baker
- Elmer Raguse
- W.B. Delaplain
- William Randall
- Oscar Lagerstrom
- Eral Sitar
Key writers
- H. M. Walker (1922–1932)
- Walter Lantz (mid-1920s)
- Leo McCarey (early to mid-1920s)
- Frank Capra (mid-1920s)
- Charley Chase (early 1920s)
- Frank Tashlin (mid-1930s)
- Hal Roach (1922–mid-1930s)
- Robert F. McGowan (1922–1933)
- Hal Law (wrote most of the MGM shorts)
- Robert A. McGowan (wrote most of the MGM shorts)
Musicians
Surviving cast members
As of December 2015, the following Our Gang kids are believed to be alive. Note that for several of the people listed below, information is insufficient:
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