Sketch o’the Week- Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer!

This week’s subject is Carl Switzer AKA “Alfalfa” from the classic Hal Roach “Our Gang” (later known as “The Little Rascals”) shorts. While the series stretched from the early 1920’s to the mid 1940’s, with the kid actors obviously aging out and being replaced constantly, the era most people are familiar with was the late 1930’s, when Alfalfa, Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, and Porky were prominent characters.

These shorts were syndicated on TV when I was a kid in in the 70’s, and I watched them often after school. Switzer’s Alfalfa was probably the most popular of the characters to come out of the series, although several actors like Jackie Cooper and Robert Blake went on to have much bigger acting careers. There’s a Hollywood legend that recounts how Switzer was once mobbed by fans while Clark Gable stood nearby totally unnoticed.

Sadly most accounts portray Switzer as not a very nice guy. He pulled a lot of dangerous and harmful practical jokes while on the sets, and eventually met a bad end being shot to death in an argument at age 31.