What character did actor Robert Blake play as a child in the Little Rascals series?
The world is for thousands a freak show; the images flicker past and vanish; the impressions remain flat and unconnected to the soul. Thus they are easily led by the opinions of others, are content to let their impressions be shuffled and rearranged and evaluated differently.” –Goethe Do you believe in the curse of The Little Rascals? Look at the strange saga of Robert Blake. I mean here’s a guy who started out as a child actor in the 1930s and has been acting pretty steadily (well that might be a stretch) ever since. Let’s face it, he’s probably the only actor from the “Our Gang” series that actually got some decent roles as an adult. I mean whatever happened to kids like Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Norman “Chubby” Chaney, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins and Matthew “Stymie” Beard. Oh yeah, of course Jackie Cooper and Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer took a stab at having a semblance of a post-Our-Gang career but that was rather short-lived. For instance, you can see Alfalfa briefly as the jeal
Then known as Mickey Gubitosi, Robert Blake’s acting career began when he appeared as Toto in the MGM movie Bridal Suite (1939) starring Annabella and Robert Young. Gubitosi then began appearing in MGM’s Our Gang short subjects under his real name, replacing Eugene “Porky” Lee. He appeared in 40 of the shorts between 1939 and 1944, eventually becoming the series’ final lead character. James and Jovanni Gubitosi also made appearances in the series as extras. During his early Our Gang period, Gubitosi’s character, Mickey, was often called upon to cry, and the young actor has been criticized for being unsubtle and unconvincing. He was also criticized for being obnoxious and whiny. In 1942, he acquired the stage name Bobby Blake, and his character in the series was renamed “Mickey Blake”. In 1944, MGM discontinued Our Gang, releasing the final short in the series, Dancing Romeo, on April 29. To date, Gubitosi is one of the few living Our Gang actors from the original series. Other notable
