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Blake's acting career, though, was more successful than those of his "Our Gang" contemporaries

Some of them, like Blake's wife, the 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley, even died violently, beginning with "Pete the Pup," the pit bull with the black circle around his left eye who was the gang's mascot. The original Pete was poisoned by an unknown assailant.

Among others:

# Robert "Wheezer" Hutchins, who died in a military plane accident in 1945 at age 19.

# "Froggie" Laughlin, who was killed in a 1948 motorscooter accident at age 16.

# "Alfalfa" Switzer, who was shot to death in 1959 in a fight over a $50 debt at age 31.

Darla Hood, who later lent her voice to well-known television advertisements for Campbell's Soup and Chicken of the Sea, also died tragically -- in 1979 from hepatitis she contracted in a hospital she had checked into for a minor operation, according to the book "Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang," by Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann. She was 47.

My hero, "Spanky" McFarland, was a successful Texas businessman when he died of a heart attack in 1993 at age 64.

Many other Rascals, including Porky and Butch, are still around. "Porky" Lee, who lives in Minnesota, sells autographed pictures of himself on the Internet; "Butch" Bond, a California resident, also has a Web page.

And we can't forget the Mickey character. He currently resides in the Los Angeles County Jail.