Nostalgic Ruffie
ComfortAny kid nowadays dreams of being famous, though many stresses came alongside people knowing your name, back in the 20's, 30's, and 40's. For one, you didn't really get to experience childhood. No sleepovers with friends, because you had to wake up at 4:00 AM to get makeup done at 5:00 AM and start filming at 6:00 AM. Alongside that, was the constant competition with other kids for screentime in shorts. And, oh, no royalties. Television was still in its infancy, at that point, and many thought it would be a temporary novelty. Nobody thought of royalties, and as a result, everyone knew of the stars, but they didn't profit, aside from their original payments. No money from all that merchandise and advertising. None.
Sure, many thought of being in the gang as a positive experience -- making friendships that lasted, getting treated well by adults, etcetera -- but multiple had harsh experiences. Dorothy DeBorba stated she did not enjoy her time. Jackie Cooper often recalls the incident in which he needed to cry for a scene in a short, and so his grandmother and Norman Taurog played a nasty trick on him that involved leading him to believe that his dog was dragged off and "shot" by a security guard. Though the dog was "magically" restored back to life after the scene was filmed, Jackie Cooper remained hysterical, vomiting and crying for hours until a doctor was summoned to give him a sedative.
For more positive experiences, though, you can look towards Darla Hood, whom recalled that each year, Hal Roach would ask each kid individually what they wanted for Christmas, and would get them whatever they wanted. Anything. Darla asked for a dollhouse, but Hal Roach misinterpreted it, and gifted her a life sized clubhouse in her backyard, instead. Hal Roach was a kind man, and was well-suited for creating the Our Gang short film series. Many stars came and went during the series' 22 year span, some more memorable than others. Most people would recognize Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Porky, and Buckwheat, but a plethora of stars had their 15 minutes of fame in the gang.
One star in particular was Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, a star in the films that had a 5 year span under his belt. He played in 58 shorts over his years, though little was known about his personal life. This is due to the fact that his parents would try and distance him from others, perhaps with the intentions of making him a star. It never happened, not as much as it did for Spanky or some of the other kids, but he's still remembered fondly. His father was rumored to be causing production problems, and at least one former star voiced their suspicions that Wheezer was being abused by his father to keep him in the role. On a much lighter note, Wheezer earned such a nickname because of the fact that on his first day at the studio, he began to wheeze heavily from all the running around he did. When he did outgrow the series, at the age of eight -- younger than most of the others were when they departed -- his parents separated and he moved back to Tacoma, Washington, with his mother.
Little Wheezer died May 17th, 1945, after his B-26 Marauder aircraft collided with another aircraft during his final training exercise. He was and still is remembered fondly as a scene-stealer in nearly all of the shorts he was in, and many mysteries still surround his time with the gang. Why didn't anyone look into the behavior of his parents? Why did he leave the gang so much earlier than his peers? How was his personality when not on set? How did the other pilot in the crash survive? Though many questions surely cannot be answered, Wheezer's adorable face and amazing acting still stand the test of time, even after over fifty years.
Wheezer was often characterized as the little brother everyone had, but nobody wanted. He was almost everyone's little brother, at one time or another. The Wheezer that is most notable in shorts would be the little Wheezer who was the son of an inventor, and had a knack for inventing things, himself. Despite his mischievous side, he was really a good boy, seen in Free Eats when he foiled the thieves at the mansion holding the party for the underprivileged kids.
Many mysteries surround the life and death of Robert E. "Wheezer" Hutchins. It is said that his father malnourished him to prevent him from outgrowing the series, and isolated Wheezer and his brother from the other children so that they wouldn't learn that other children got much more to eat than they did. No one attempted to intervene on the children's behalf. Remembering Wheezer in 1990, "Our Gang" producer Hal Roach remarked, 'That was a kid with great charm, and wide appeal'. There is confusion as to whether or not Wheezer served in the army, however Wheezer was close to graduating from advanced flight training, and never went overseas. There are multiple other Robert E. Hutchins listed in military indexes, but they are not the one people know and love as Wheezer of the Our Gang franchise.
Altogether, Wheezer was a very memorable youngster with an adorable face that will always cause laughter to erupt from those watching his performances.
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Dreamland, characters are from Hal Roach's Our Gang franchise.
