| Unfortunately, that kind of luck doesn't last | | | | and was endlessly inventive as an actor. |
| forever. Carl left the series in 1940, although the | | | | According to Blake, when Carl wanted to, he |
| part followed him everywhere he went. He'd | | | | could get it precisely right on the first take. |
| knock on doors all day long, chasing down acting | | | | So Carl in his mid-20s felt depressed. Back at the |
| jobs, but the people doing the hiring would just | | | | Roach studios, he was the center of attention. |
| say, "Hey, Alfie, sing off-key for us." It used to | | | | And now he felt like he was just another |
| drive him nuts. He always said it's hard for a | | | | washed-up has-been, lurking around the fringes of |
| former child actor to start working again. | | | | the business. |
| He did star in a couple of movies, There's One | | | | He did the best he could, on his own. He'd |
| Born Every Minute and The Great Mike. He played | | | | supplement his income by taking odd jobs like |
| Billy Wiggs in Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch. | | | | bartending. Or as a professional hunting guide in |
| In the late '40s, he top-lined three low-budget Gas | | | | the High Sierra. Actually, he was pretty good at |
| House Kids programmers, where he was reunited | | | | that. He had his own dogs and equipment. And he |
| with his perpetual Our Gang nemesis, Tommy | | | | enjoyed it. Among his regular clients he counted |
| "Butch" Bond. Tommy was one of his best | | | | Roy Rogers, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart. |
| friends. He died of heart failure in Northridge in | | | | And then there was William Wellman. "Wild Bill" |
| September of 2005 at the age of 79. | | | | they called him. A man's man and one of the |
| Other than those few high points, it was mostly | | | | most colorful directors in Hollywood. His 1927 |
| downhill for Carl over the next decade. He had bit | | | | movie Wings won the first Oscar for Best Picture. |
| parts in Leo McCarey's Going My Way, in Courage | | | | Carl was on a big-game hunting trip with him, but |
| Of Lassie, A Letter To Three Wives, and the | | | | Wellman didn't recognize him. He kept glancing at |
| Tracy-Hepburn vehicle, Pat and Mike. Most of the | | | | Carl-- couldn't quite place him, although he thought |
| time, he didn't even get his name in the credits. | | | | he looked familiar. Finally, he said something about |
| Frank Capra had written a couple of Our Gang | | | | it, and Carl reluctantly told him he was Alfalfa. |
| scripts in the '20s. He cast Carl in two classics. | | | | Wellman laughed and said, "You're gonna be in my |
| First in It's A Wonderful Life in 1946, when Carl | | | | next picture." Carl's eyes bugged out, just like |
| was 19. He played Donna Reed's boring date at | | | | Alfalfa's. |
| the school dance. It's a good small role. He and his | | | | The man was as good as his word. Carl Switzer |
| buddy are the pair who crank open the swimming | | | | was cast as Hopper in William A. Wellman's Island |
| pool that Stewart and Reed fall into while | | | | In The Sky in 1953...and got his name in the |
| jitterbugging. In the ensuing chaos, Carl shrugs and | | | | credits at the beginning of the movie. And then |
| joins his classmates in the big splash. | | | | the next year, he did another one for Wild Bill. He |
| And then later he showed up in another | | | | played Ensign Keim in The High And The Mighty. It |
| Tracy-Hepburn movie, this one for Capra, State | | | | was a huge box- office smash. |
| Of The Union, in 1948. But by then the roles were | | | | Both were John Wayne movies, made by |
| getting smaller and less frequent. Almost as if | | | | Wayne's production company, Batjac. Later the |
| producers were embarrassed to cast him. | | | | same year, they offered Carl more work. It was |
| Then in the '50s, Our Gang was resurrected on | | | | another Wellman picture, Track Of The Cat, |
| television as The Little Rascals. It was an | | | | starring Robert Mitchum, from a novel by Walter |
| enormous thumping success. Alfalfa was | | | | Van Tilburg Clark. Carl was to play Joe Sam, a |
| rediscovered by a new batch of children, and the | | | | 100-year-old Piute Indian ranch hand. It was a |
| character became just as beloved and captivating | | | | challenge, to put it mildly. He was 26 at the time. |
| as he was in the '30s. | | | | No one alive today can say why on earth they'd |
| But it was a mixed blessing for Carl Switzer. It | | | | cast a skinny white kid in a part like that, but the |
| made him happy to feel recognized, but it didn't | | | | company did hire a native American coach, |
| help him get work. It seemed to hurt, in fact. And | | | | 77-year-old Augie Gomez, a Mohawk and former |
| while the syndicators of the series were making a | | | | extra and stand-in, to help him get the character |
| fortune--millions upon millions--Alfalfa and the rest | | | | right. Carl did okay with it, certainly didn't |
| of the Our Gang stars didn't get a penny. There | | | | embarrass himself. |
| was no such thing as residuals in those days. | | | | It took three hours to get him into make-up |
| Carl felt bitter about it, even though he had fond | | | | every day. And he was perfectly happy to sit |
| memories of his seasons in Our Gang. He and | | | | there while they did it. |
| Tommy Bond had really hit it off. In the stories | | | | Carl felt like things were looking up. But he was |
| Butch and Alfalfa were always at each other's | | | | still the same prankster and trouble-maker. One |
| throats. But there was no competition between | | | | night on location he threw a live racoon into |
| them in real life. They had a lot of laughs | | | | Mitchum's cabin. |
| together. They thought of themselves as backlot | | | | Five weeks before production, Carl had eloped |
| kingpins. | | | | with Dian Collingwood, the daughter of a wealthy |
| Carl as a kid was always causing trouble on the | | | | Kansas farmer. John Wayne's brother, Bob |
| set. He hated school, and he'd deliberately ruin a | | | | Morrison, was best man at the wedding in Las |
| take with his hi- jinks. Once a cameraman got | | | | Vegas. But the couple weren't getting along well. |
| mad at him and barked at him in annoyance. | | | | They broke up during the shoot. Carl was getting |
| Alfalfa repaid him when everyone was out to | | | | hounded by the press. His only comment was, "I |
| lunch by jamming a mammoth wad of gum inside | | | | guess bear hunting and marriage don't mix." |
| the camera, shutting down production for the rest | | | | After the movie wrapped, Dian told him she was |
| of the day. Another time, when an impatient | | | | expecting, and they were reconciled. Carl agreed |
| director was needling him, Carl climbed up on the | | | | to get rid of his three hunting dogs. But the |
| catwalks and took a leak on the hot lights, clearing | | | | marriage didn't last, and they soon divorced. |
| out the studio because of the rancid smell. | | | | Carl soldiered on. He got cast in a semi-recurring |
| Life was never dull around Alfalfa. Tommy Bond | | | | role on Roy Rogers' TV program. He landed small, |
| said, "He was a riot. Everybody loved him." You | | | | uncredited parts in a handful of movies, including |
| never knew what kind of a stunt he'd pull next. | | | | Francis In The Navy and The Ten |
| He was mischievous, and you couldn't control him. | | | | Commandments. He was signed to do a comedy |
| Darla Hood, one of his co-stars, said he was | | | | lead in a Huckleberry Finn TV series, but |
| exciting to be around, but sometimes she was | | | | somehow it never came off. |
| afraid of him. | | | | Then in 1958, he won a juicy featured role in his |
| Another of his kid co-stars was Robert | | | | final movie, The Defiant Ones, starring Sidney |
| Blake--yeah, that Robert Blake, known at the | | | | Poitier and Tony Curtis. His part, Angus, ran all the |
| time by his real name, Mickey Gubitosi. He was | | | | way through the story. Just before it was |
| impressed with Alfalfa's substantial talents. He has | | | | released, Carl told a reporter, "I'll see how this one |
| said Carl could play several different instruments | | | | turns out. If this doesn't do it for me, nothing will. |