Gordon Lee, (Porky from the "Little Rascals" ) died.

[mia]

MINNEAPOLIS Oct 21, 2005 — Gordon Lee, the chubby child actor who played Spanky McFarland's little brother Porky in the "Little Rascals" comedies, has died. He was 71.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1238000&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312



I loved watching "Spanky and Our Gang" when I was young...still do.

[ewagner]

1. So sad

I remember him fondly.....I watched those reruns over and over and over again.

RIP Porky!

[Jara sang]

2. I didn't know Porky was supposed to be Spanky's brother.

Huh...

[mia]

5. I didn't know that either.

[DefenseLawyer]

7. I don't recall that either

I know he and Buckwheat were pals. The Little Rascals was one of the few places you could find integration in show business back in those days.

[bonito]

3. Good memories

I never grew out of them ether.

[mark11727]

4. Is Porky the one that said...

“Uh-huhhhhh…Isthmus be my lucky day!"

I'm not sure, it's been a reaaaaly long time since I've watched the Rascals.

[NanceGreggs]

13. Yessiree!!!

It ws in response to the teacher's request to use the word 'Isthmus' in a sentence!

[mia]

15. “Uh-huhhhhh…Isthmus be my lucky day!"

Not sure who said that, but "Ithmus" sounds like Chritmas and reminds me of this photo.

[alphafemale]

20. LOL! Who's the little baby girl on the truck?

That would've likely been seen as a "Boy's - Toy" in that era.

And something to the set look in her face tells me she had to fight like hell to sit on it.

You GO, Baby Girl!

[alphafemale]

21. ....and is that Robert Blake standing behind Darla?

I also forget the character name of "Buckwheat's sister," who's on the far left.

[spanone]

6. Wow, grew up on the Rascals. Adios Porky...

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. I used to watch "Little Rascals" on TV. Sorry Porky is gone. :^(

[JI7]

9. does this show still come on tv anywhere ?

[alphafemale]

23. AMC or TCM maybe?

I remember seeing some at odd hours. (Early AM)

But we cut the cable cord almost two years ago now and I don't remember exactly.

[calico1]

10. Aww, that is sad.

I saw a program on them a couple of years ago. Most of them are gone. At that time, "Waldo" was still alive and also the one that played the town bully. Can't recall the name.

[no_hypocrisy]

17. Easy. Butch was the name of the bully.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

11. I poked around a bit

trying to find out whatever became of all the LRs, and found reference to an E! True Hollywood Story telling about a string of tragic and early deaths.

Also found an article saying that as of 1999, only 2 LRs were still alive - Robert Blake, and the kid who played Buckwheat, whose real name was (kid you not) Jesse Jackson (not THE JJ I assume, but still pretty weird). This article did not mention Gordon Lee.

[lumberingbear]

12. The guy who played "Butch" just died recently also. eom

[NanceGreggs]

14. When my son (who is now 31) was little ...

... he used to watch the Little Rascals every morning before I dropped him at school. He would always tell me about the episode he saw that morning, and couldn't understand how I ALWAYS KNEW HOW IT ENDED, AND EVERY WORD OF DIALOGUE!

I tried to explain to him a million times that I had also grown up with these films; he was SURE they were a new series. To this day, I don't think he quite believes me ....

[mia]

16. I ALWAYS KNEW HOW IT ENDED, AND EVERY WORD OF DIALOGUE!

Love it!
I can hardly remember a line, but just thinking about watching their skits brings me to to a peaceful time. My grandchildren have a complete set of the videos, so are now "growing up" with them too.

http://www.tv.com/little-rascals/show/10343/episode_guide.html

[Metta]

18. R.I.P. Porky. What a great show that was.

nt

[Marr]

19. Alfalfa used to live just down the road from me when I was a kid.

In a trailer park. Those poor kids got scammed.

[alphafemale]

22. Yeah. His was one of the rougher of the stories.

Many actors got screwed out of royalties though.

Not just kids.

[DivinBreuvage]

26. It's much bigger than getting screwed out of royalties. Major bad things

happened to a lot of the "Our Gang" kids. The following biographical info is from Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals by Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann (updated 1992 edition is still available on amazon.com)

Matthew "Stymie" Beard suffered through 25 years of drug addiction and prison time (he managed to turn his life around in the mid-60s though)

Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins: killed in a training accident in World War II

Mary Kornman (from the silent films) died of cancer in her 50s

Norman "Chubby" Chaney: died of health problems at age 18

Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer: shot to death at age 31 over a $50 gambling debt

Mickey Gubitosi (Robert Blake): tortured childhood, years of drug abuse, and we all know what happened to him recently.

Billy "Froggy" Laughlin: killed in a motor scooter accident in the 1950s.

Scotty Beckett: beaten to death at age 38.

[alphafemale]

27. ...but most of "those" awful things could have happened anyway.

No way to prove whether "Our Gang" participation had anything to do with those outcomes.

[DivinBreuvage]

29. No one was trying to make the case that it did

It's just sad that those kids who gave so much happiness and fond memories to generations of children in many cases had such tragic and unhappy lives themselves.

[October]

24. Wasn't it "Spanky" not "Porky"? /eom

[DivinBreuvage]

25. Here is a FANTASTIC book for Little Rascals Fans:

Our Gang: The Life and Times of The Little Rascals by Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann.

It includes tons of photos, synopses of all episodes from the first silent in 1922 to the final talkie in 1944, and biographies and "where are they now" of all the Our Gang players they were able to track down. And it's written in such an affectionate and engaging way! If you grew up with the Little Rascals you'll love it -- everyone I've ever shown my copy to has wanted to borrow it so they could read through the whole thing.

Here's a link on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517583259/qid=1129955062/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-4654102-8831842?v=glance&s=books

[NanceGreggs]

30. Thanks so much!!!

Didn't know about this book -- plan to head to the bookstore this week for a copy!

[newyawker99]

28. Rest in Peace Mr Lee.

I really did enjoy those shows.