Another piece of Americana gone...
Posted on 09/25/2005 10:11:11 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Sunday September 25, 2005
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 died Saturday afternoon from complications of heart disease at Northridge Hospital, said his manager, Frank Marks.
Born Sept. 16, 1926 in Dallas, Bond got his start in movies at the age of 5 when a talent scout for the 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.
Bond signed on to play a member of the Gang called Tommy and appeared in several shorts. After his first year he was dropped from the cast but returned later in the role of Butch, the arch-enemy of Alfalfa.
He appeared in dozens of ``Our Gang'' and ``Little Rascals'' features before outgrowing the role.
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.
He served stateside as a Navy pilot in World War II. In 1951, he quit acting and went into directing and production work for television before retiring in 1991 from a production job for Channel 30 in Fresno.
Bond is survived by his wife, Pauline; son Thomas Ross Bond III, and a grandson.
Services were pending.
Another piece of Americana gone...
You beat me to it. ;-)
i thought he was still living in Fresno. He was famous here, and I pray comfort for his family. RIP !
I must have seen every last 'Our Gang'/'Little Rascals' short at least ten times, having grown up in the '60s when they were shown on local TV here in the Philly area every Sunday Morning on 'Pete's Gang'. Another piece of genuine Americana has passed on. May Mr. Bond rest in peace.
RIP "Butch"
Mickey Gubitosi AKA Robert Blake.. (Baretta)
Sidney Kibrick "The Woim".. Butch's sidekick.
Eugene "Porky" Lee..
Check out This (Wikipedia) page for more info on the Our Gang cast..
> Mickey Gubitosi AKA Robert Blake.. (Baretta)
> Sidney Kibrick "The Woim".. Butch's sidekick.
> Eugene "Porky" Lee..
And Jackie Cooper.
I also missed Dorothy De Borba..
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