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Thomas Bond, who played ``Our Gang's'' Butch the bully, dies at 79
KCBS T V 2 ^ | 09/25/2005 | AP

Posted on 09/25/2005 10:11:11 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist

Sunday September 25, 2005

LOS ANGELES (AP) Thomas Ross Bond, who played Butch the bully in the ``Our Gang'' and ``The Little Rascals'' serials of the 1930s, has died. He was 79.

Bond died Saturday afternoon from complications of heart disease at Northridge Hospital, said his manager, Frank Marks.

Born Sept. 16, 1926 in Dallas, Bond got his start in movies at the age of 5 when a talent scout for the Hal Roach studios approached him as he was leaving a movie theater with his mother.

The scout ``asked him if he'd be interested in acting, (said) he had a great face and he could set up an appointment with Hal Roach in L.A.,'' Marks said.

His grandmother drove him in what, at the time, was a rugged journey.

``It was all dirt roads from Dallas to L.A,'' Marks said.

Bond signed on to play a member of the Gang called Tommy and appeared in several shorts. After his first year he was dropped from the cast but returned later in the role of Butch, the arch-enemy of Alfalfa.

He appeared in dozens of ``Our Gang'' and ``Little Rascals'' features before outgrowing the role.

In the 1940s, Bond played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman movies and appeared as Joey Pepper in several installments of the ``Five Little Peppers'' serial.

He served stateside as a Navy pilot in World War II. In 1951, he quit acting and went into directing and production work for television before retiring in 1991 from a production job for Channel 30 in Fresno.

Bond is survived by his wife, Pauline; son Thomas Ross Bond III, and a grandson.

Services were pending.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: butch; littlerascals; obituary; ourgang

1 posted on 09/25/2005 10:11:12 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Another piece of Americana gone...

2 posted on 09/25/2005 10:12:16 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

3 posted on 09/25/2005 10:13:48 PM PDT by Huntress (Possession really is nine tenths of the law.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

You beat me to it. ;-)


4 posted on 09/25/2005 10:15:23 PM PDT by Huntress (Possession really is nine tenths of the law.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
PHOTOS
5 posted on 09/25/2005 10:15:36 PM PDT by doug from upland (Doug from Upland - FR troublemaker since 5/97)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

LIFE GOES ON.... AND TEXXON IS THERE.


6 posted on 09/25/2005 10:18:20 PM PDT by Flux Capacitor (Trust me. I know what I'm doing.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

i thought he was still living in Fresno. He was famous here, and I pray comfort for his family. RIP !


7 posted on 09/25/2005 10:20:25 PM PDT by ladyinred (It is all my fault okay?)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I must have seen every last 'Our Gang'/'Little Rascals' short at least ten times, having grown up in the '60s when they were shown on local TV here in the Philly area every Sunday Morning on 'Pete's Gang'. Another piece of genuine Americana has passed on. May Mr. Bond rest in peace.


8 posted on 09/25/2005 10:27:34 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

RIP "Butch"


9 posted on 09/25/2005 10:51:06 PM PDT by afnamvet
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist; All
The 'OurGang' Theme Song
R.I.P

Click the Pic

10 posted on 09/25/2005 11:28:05 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: Lancey Howard
Sigh. Who's left?


11 posted on 09/26/2005 4:33:28 AM PDT by cloud8
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To: cloud8
Who's Left?

Mickey Gubitosi AKA Robert Blake.. (Baretta)
Sidney Kibrick "The Woim".. Butch's sidekick.
Eugene "Porky" Lee..

Check out This (Wikipedia) page for more info on the Our Gang cast..

12 posted on 09/26/2005 5:14:22 AM PDT by Drammach (Freedom; not just a job, it's an adventure..)
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To: Drammach

> Mickey Gubitosi AKA Robert Blake.. (Baretta)
> Sidney Kibrick "The Woim".. Butch's sidekick.
> Eugene "Porky" Lee..

And Jackie Cooper.


13 posted on 09/26/2005 5:38:59 AM PDT by cloud8
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To: cloud8
Thanks.. Missed Jackie Cooper..

I also missed Dorothy De Borba..

14 posted on 09/26/2005 6:58:01 AM PDT by Drammach (Freedom; not just a job, it's an adventure..)
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