# Butch joins Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355 "2005-09-25T18:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/1 "2005-09-25T18:41:40Z")
The _Little Rascals_ Curse has struck again–yet another cast member has died. Ummm, well, OK, he was 79 . . . But _still_ . . . > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES (AP) – Thomas Ross Bond, who played Butch the bully in the “Our Gang” and “The Little Rascals” serials of the 1930s, has died. He was 79. Bond played a member of the Gang named Tommy. After his first year he was dropped from the cast but returned later in the role of Butch, the archenemy of Alfalfa. Born Sept. 16, 1926 in Dallas, Bond got his start at the age of 5 when a talent scout for Hal Roach studios approached him as he was leaving a movie theater with his mother. The scout “asked him if he’d be interested in acting, (said) he had a great face and he could set up an appointment with Hal Roach in L.A.,” Marks said. His grandmother drove him in what, at the time, was a rugged journey: “It was all dirt roads from Dallas to L.A,” Marks said. In the 1940s, Bond played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman movies and appeared as Joey Pepper in several installments of the “Five Little Peppers” serial. In 1951, Bond quit acting and went into television directing and production work before retiring in 1991. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/2 "2005-09-25T18:48:30Z")
“Bond played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman movies …” That’s kind of cool. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/3 "2005-09-25T19:10:12Z")
The first time I saw The Little Rascals was at school. Grade school, in the early 50’s. In the winter, when it was too cold to go outside for recess, the principal would set up a movie screen in the music room, and we’d watch the Rascals. What a treat. I can’t think of many other movies or TV shows where kids had so much fun. We modeled a lot of our games after them, especially dressing up the dog, parades, and doing make-believe stuff in abandoned buildings. They were a huge part of our childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/4 "2005-09-26T19:10:15Z")
I loved _The Little Rascals_. I wish I would’ve recorded all of the episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/5 "2005-09-26T19:26:11Z")
How many Rascals are left, now? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/6 "2005-09-26T19:50:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How many Rascals are left, now? There were many rascals over the years. It looks like there are 10 left. [http://www.picking.com/og-bios.html](http://www.picking.com/og-bios.html) They haven’t changed Bond’s listing yet. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/7 "2005-09-26T20:02:09Z")
But what of Woim? What of WOIM??? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/8 "2005-09-26T20:04:03Z")
There were a couple of other minor players who might still be alive, that aren’t in that list. For example, Mickey “Happy” Laughlin, Froggy’s real-life brother. Despite that, he actually looked a lot more like Porky. And Buckwheat had a little brother called “Big Shot.” That person’s real name is not recorded anywhere that I’ve been able to find. He was not the same “Big Shot” who appeared in the series finale “Tale of a Dog.” Typically, all he would ever say was some variation of “Yes, it sho’ does!” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/9 "2005-09-26T20:13:07Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > But what of Woim? > > What of WOIM??? Woim (Sid Kibrick) - (7/2/28 - ) - Currently lives in California. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/10 "2005-09-26T20:17:03Z")
> [@Doug Bowe](#): > > Woim (Sid Kibrick) - (7/2/28 - ) - Currently lives in California. WHEW! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/11 "2005-09-26T20:23:22Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > But what of Woim? > > What of WOIM??? Congrats! You put a big smile on my face with that. I always wondered if Woim was an actual name, or if he just couldn’t say William correctly. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/12 "2005-09-26T20:52:44Z")
Poor Stymie. He was always my favorite. I should be so lucky as to repeat his last words: “Fun, fun, fun…I sure had alot of fun.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butch-joins-spanky-alfalfa-darla-buckwheat/323355/13 "2005-09-26T22:39:11Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > Poor Stymie. He was always my favorite. I should be so lucky as to repeat his last words: “Fun, fun, fun…I sure had alot of fun.” Stymie had my favorite Rascal moment. It’s the episode where they bake a “surprise filled” cake. He’s reading the recipe book and it says “Set on stove and stir.” The next scene, of course, is Stymie sitting on the stove and stirring the cake batter. “Spanky, how long I gotta set on this thing?” At least Butch went by natural causes unlike Alfalfa or [Pinky](http://www.minorcon.org/smith.html) or- I think some others had ghoulish deaths didn’t they? Then there’s Robert Blake, who didn’t die a ghoulish death but is a carrier.