A total of 220 shorts and one feature film, titled General Spanky, were eventually produced, featuring over forty-one child actors.
ORIGINAL LITTLE RASCALS SERIES
Production continued at the Roach studio until the series was sold in 1938 to MGM, who continued producing the comedies until 1944. Roach changed distributors from Pathé to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, otherwise known as MGM, in 1927, and by 1929 had converted the series to sound. Our Gang, the trademark name of MGM before Roach studios titled it the Little Rascals, first production was at the Roach studio was in 1922 as a silent short subject series. Producer Hal Roach broke new ground in the filming industry by putting boys and girls, black and whites all in equal roles, something that was unheard of in the 1920's and 1930's. He used his skill in editing instead of acting. Billie Thomas was one of the Rascals that had an untimely death at the age of 49, when he suffered a heart attack.The Little Rascals was a series of comedy shorts films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Army where he served for two years, receiving the National Defense Serve Medal and Good Conduct Medal. After his service in the army, Billie Thomas worked as a film lab technician with Technicolor Corporation. He liked to capture the kids at play.Īt the age of 23 Billie Thomas enlisted in the U.S.
![original little rascals original little rascals](http://uploads.neatorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/200_alfalfa.jpg)
You might say it was one of the first attempts at reality shows. Producer, Hal Roach had looked out his window at a bunch of kids in the street and was drawn to the comedy of it all. But talk about confusing - his costume didn’t change until the feature film, “General Spanky” when he began to wear overalls and lost the pig tails.īuckwheat had a speech impediment as a child, which was part of the natural, real home feel to the series. In the 1936, The Pinch Singer, Billie Thomas, as Buckwheat, was now a “he” not a “she”. The Buckwheat character played by Billie Thomas finally evolved into a boy after Stymie left the series in 1935. He wore pigtails with bows, a large over-sized sweater and large over-sized floppy boots. If you were ever confused about whether he was a little girl or a little boy, this may be the reason. But he continued to play the role as a girl. Since the character, “Buckwheat” was originally a girl, Hal Roach and the studio must have wanted to keep it that way - even though the new actor for Buckwheat was the boy, Billie Thomas. That’s when it became confusing.īillie Thomas became “Buckwheat” in the 1935 episode called, Mama’s Little Pirate. Another young girl, Willie Mae Taylor played the role of Buckwheat for three more episodes before Billie Thomas took it over.
![original little rascals original little rascals](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/99/04/1d9904b5ede86ce02ada8ce4de5efcf1.jpg)
![original little rascals original little rascals](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA2NzM1NzkxM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjQxNzgwMw@@._V1_.jpg)
He got a role and his first episode was called, For Pete’s Sake! But he wasn’t playing the role of “Buckwheat” - that character was played by female child actress named Carlena (who happened to be Matthew “Stymie” Beard’s sister). But the real question is whether he was a boy or a girl.īorn in Los Angeles, California, Billie Thomas auditioned at the Hal Roach Studios at the age of three. He was in the show for ten years, from 1934 to its ending in 1944.
ORIGINAL LITTLE RASCALS TV
Billie Thomas is best remembered as “Buckwheat” in the TV series, “The Little Rascals” and “Our Gang”.