This book is dedicated to the young at heart,
wherever they are around the world.
Jesus said, “Bring the little ones to me.”
The love of children will keep the circle of life going forever.
We thank the following people who contributed to this book:
Stephanie Andrade and staff at Verbum Dei Boys School
Richard Bann
Tommy Bond, Jr.
Brian Garcia
Miriam Howard
Richard Lamparski
Dash Morrison
Ben Ohmart
Richard Ottens
Allan Ottens
Cindy Snavely
Miriam Theus
Valerie Thompson
Cynthia Williams, Media Librarian at Foshay Learning Center
“A Buckwheat Wannabe Lands 20/20 on the Griddle.” People Magazine, October 20, 1990.
“Buckwheat: Preserving Actor’s Legacy.” The Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1992.
“Children are Charming, But Jokes are Bad in Rascals.” The Syracuse Herald Journal, August 5, 1994, page 104.
Cooper, Jackie. Please Don’t Shoot My Dog. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1981.
“Ebonics According to Buckwheat, a New Furor over Black English Provokes Some Stereotypical Thinking.” By Jack E. White in Time, January 13, 1997.
“Great Colored Find.” The La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, February 28, 1937, page 9.
“Hal Roach — Last Link to a Glorious Entertainment Era.” By Charles Chaplin in The Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1992.
Hess, Gary R. Presidential Decisions for War: Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
“He Wasn’t Buckwheat, 20/20 Acknowledges. The Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1990.
“Idea Man Wins Payoff At Last.” The Chester Times, September 23, 1955, page 20.
Lloyd, Harold. An American Comedy. New York: Stein Dover Publications, 1971.
Maltin, Leonard and Richard Bann. Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals. New York: Crown Publishers, 1977.
“Personal Appearances.” By Louella O. Parsons in the Waterloo Daily Courier, April 15, 1936, page 15.
Schickel, Richard. Harold Lloyd: The Shape of Laughter. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1974.
“Sean Young Nets 2 Glden Raspberries” by W. Speers in the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 31, 1992.
Shales, Tom W. and James Andrew Miller. Live From New York: an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Boston: Back Bay Books, 2003.
Steen, Mike. Hollywood Speaks! An Oral History. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 1974.
“The Little Rascals Film Review.” By Janet Maslin in the New York Times, August 5, 1994.
“The Son of William Thomas.” By Richard Johnson in the Daily News, March 30, 1992.
“Hollywood ‘80 The Second International Convention of Sons of the Desert.” By Tim Doherty in Pratfall, 1982.
Ward, Richard Lewis. A History of the Hal Roach Studios. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 2005.
“Who Played Buckwheat Role is Now Bone of Contention.” The Danville Register, December 8, 1976, page 24.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction
“Otay!” The Billy “Buckwheat” Thomas Story
Bibliography
“Otay!” The Billy “Buckwheat” Thomas Story
© 2012 William Thomas, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
All Photos and Illustrations from the Bill Thomas, Jr. Estate Collection.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This version of the book may be slightly abridged from the print version.
Published in the USA by:
BearManor Media
PO Box 1129
Duncan, Oklahoma 73534-1129
www.bearmanormedia.com
ISBN 978-1-62933-036-5
Co-written and Edited by David W. Menefee.
Cover Design by Valerie Thompson.
eBook construction by Brian Pearce | Red Jacket Press.
Childhood lives in the memories of every person as the most wonderful, magical time in their lives. Fantasies and delight color every day in a child’s life, and no recollection of those years was ever more affectionate and humorous than those captured in motion pictures by the Hal Roach Studios. With their Our Gang comedies, which were later known as The Little Rascals, the children never grew up. Their real lives were another story.
This book celebrates William Thomas, the man known as “Buckwheat,” one of the most beloved characters in the history of those films. His heritage grew to be more than the ninety-three comedies in which he appeared as Buckwheat. He was a husband, father, soldier, and friend. Several generations have come to know the boy as if he was a real person, but few knew Billy, the man behind the myth.
In the first years of the twentieth century, motion pictures became popular as entertainment. In every town, “nickelodeons” sprang up in tiny stores, and new films arrived daily that brought escapism to country yokels who barely knew how to read and to urban immigrants who could barely speak English. Their escape from life’s monotony came from watching the movies. For a nickel, they could watch thrilling melodramas and short comedies. They plunked down millions of coins, and the film industry rushed out as much new product as they could manufacture to quench the public thirst for new stories.
The nearly year-round sunshine in California attracted film companies to Hollywood, Los Angeles, and the wild suburbs where orange groves and Eucalyptus plants grew taller than a man’s head. In one of these dusty boom towns, a young man named Will Thomas met and married a pretty girl named Mattie.
Hal Roach (1892-1992), a mule skinner, wrangler, and gold prospector turned truck driver, journeyed to Hollywood looking for an easy way to earn $5 a day. Roach first picked up a job posing in a gambling scene in which nobody knew that the roulette wheel and the ball should go in opposite directions. He set the men straight and was on his way.
Roach worked as an extra one day, or an assistant the next day. He saw men become directors based on their willingness to be enthusiastic and imaginative when the first rays of the morning sun were just poking through the treetops. In 1913, he met comedian Harold Lloyd. With financing from a small inheritance, Roach began writing, directing, and producing a series of short film comedies starring the actor. Encouraged by success, Roach attracted other stars, and he began producing comedy films with animals and children.
One day in 1921, Hal Roach looked through the window of his office and watched some kids playing in a nearby lot. They were arguing over a stick as if was the most important thing in the world. Their antics fascinated him and gave birth to the idea for the Our Gang comedy series.
The series was originally called Hal Roach’s Rascals, and the title of the first film in the series was Our Gang. Children were painstakingly cast to represent a cross section of every neighborhood gang, including a leader and his sidekick, a tag-along toddler, a bully, a pretty girl, and a dog. Children included both African-Americans and females during an era when discrimination against both groups was commonplace. The gang often engaged with snobbish rich kids, bossy adults, and demanding parents. Roach hit gold with the winning formula, and the Our Gang series found immediate success with audiences.