Carl Switzer

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Carl Switzer
Born Carl Dean Switzer
August 7, 1927(1927-08-07)
Paris, Illinois U.S.
Died January 21, 1959 (aged 31)
Mission Hills, California U.S.
Occupation Film actor
Years active 1935-1958

Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer (August 7, 1927 – January 21, 1959) was an American child actor, professional dog breeder and expert hunting guide, perhaps most notable for appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as Alfalfa, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and family

Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois, the second son, fourth and last child of Gladys C. Shanks (née Doerr) and G. Frederick Switzer. He was named Carl after the Switzer family and Dean after many relatives on his grandmother's family. He and his older brother, Harold Frederick Switzer, became famous around their hometown for their musical talent and performances; both sang and played a number of instruments.

[edit] Our Gang, shot to fame

The Switzers took a trip to California in 1934 to visit with family members. While sightseeing the Switzers eventually wound up at Hal Roach Studios. Following a public tour of the facility, 8-year-old Harold and 6-year-old Carl entered into the Hal Roach Studio's open-to-the-public cafeteria, the Our Gang Café, and began an impromptu performance. Producer Hal Roach was present at the commissary that day and was impressed by the performance. He signed both Switzers to appear in Our Gang. Harold was given two nicknames, "Slim" and "Deadpan", and Carl was dubbed "Alfalfa".[1]

The Switzer brothers first appeared in the 1935 Our Gang short, Beginner's Luck. By the end of the year, Alfalfa was one of the main characters in the series, while Harold had more or less been relegated to the role of a background player.

Although Carl Switzer was an experienced singer and musician, his character Alfalfa was often called upon to sing off-key renditions of pop standards and contemporary hits, most often those of Bing Crosby. Alfalfa also sported one of the most famous cowlicks in pop culture history, along with an ahoge.

Switzer (right) as "Alfalfa" in Our Gang Follies of 1938, with fellow Our Gang cast members George "Spanky" McFarland and Darla Hood.
Switzer (right) as "Alfalfa" in Our Gang Follies of 1938, with fellow Our Gang cast members George "Spanky" McFarland and Darla Hood.

Switzer's country-boy sense of earthy humor could often be cruel. He enjoyed playing tricks on his fellow cast and crew members. One incident occurred when he put fishing hooks in the pants of George "Spanky" McFarland and Spanky suffered severe cuts that resulted in his receiving stitches. Switzer tricked Darla Hood into putting her hand in his pocket, telling her he had a ring for her, but in reality it was a switchblade knife. Darla almost lost her fingers from that incident. After Hal Roach sold the series to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) in 1938, the now-adolescent Switzer's behavior was even more extreme. He often sabotaged the production of Our Gang films. Once, during a break in filming, Switzer urinated on the set's lights. When filming resumed, the lights heated up and filled the set with such a stench that filming had to be halted for the rest of the day. On another occasion, he put chewing gum inside one of the cameras.[1]

[edit] Adult years

Both Switzers' tenures in Our Gang ended in 1940, when Carl was thirteen. Carl continued to appear in movies in various supporting roles, including I Love You Again (1940), Going My Way (1944), Courage of Lassie (1946), and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and starred in the John Wayne film Island in the Sky where he coined the phrase "Whatever's customary", about the only line he spoke throughout the film, but one he repeated several times in it.[1]

Switzer's last starring roles were in a brief series of imitation-Bowery Boys movies; he reprised his "Alfalfa" characterization, complete with comically sour vocals, in PRC's "Gas House Kids" comedies of 1946-1947. He returned to supporting roles, including a short stint as B-western sidekick "Alfalfa Johnson." Switzer preferred not to recall his "Our Gang" work; in his 1946 resume he referred to the gang films generically as "M-G-M short product."

Switzer had a rather unusual cameo in the 1954 musical film White Christmas where his picture was used to depict an Army buddy (named "Freckle-Faced Haynes") of lead characters (Wallace and Davis) played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye and also the brother of the female leads (the Haynes Sisters) played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.He also did some acting for television.

His final film role was in 1958's The Defiant Ones and on the television series, "The Roy Rogers Show," where he was called upon to reprise his off-key "Alfalfa-like" singing. Switzer's difficult reputation and his typecasting as Alfalfa made it difficult for him to find quality work.

in January 1958, he was shot in the arm while getting into his car. He survived the shooting, but the shooter was never identified. Months later, Switzer was arrested in Sequoia National Forest for cutting down 15 pine trees. He was sentenced to a year's probation and ordered to pay a $225 fine.

[edit] Marriage and family

In the early 1950s, Switzer moved to Kansas. He lived and worked on a farm at Pretty Prairie, west of Wichita. There he met and married Diane Collingwood, the heiress of grain elevator empire Collingwood Grain. The marriage only lasted four months, but did result in the birth of a son whose name is still a well kept secret.[1]

[edit] Professional dog breeding

While not acting, Switzer bred hunting dogs and led guided hunting expeditions. Some of his more notable clients included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Switzer's godparents), and Jimmy Stewart.[1]

[edit] Death

On January 21, 1959, Switzer and his friend Jack Piott arrived allegedly drunk at Moses "Bud" Stiltz's home in Mission Hills, California, to settle an alleged debt owed to Switzer. Previously, Switzer had borrowed a dog from Stiltz which was lost, but eventually found, Switzer paying the man who returned the dog $35 and buying him $15 worth of drinks from the bar he was working at. Switzer went to Stiltz's house to collect the money "owed" him. He banged on Stiltz's front door, demanding "Let me in, or I'll kick in the door.". Once Switzer got inside he and Stiltz got into an argument. Switzer informed Stiltz that he wanted the money owed him saying "I want that 50 bucks you owe me now, and I mean now,". However, when Stiltz refused to hand over the money, the two engaged in a physical fight. Piott allegedly bashed Stiltz in the head with a glass-domed clock, which caused Stiltz to bleed from his left eye. Stiltz retreated to his bedroom and returned holding a .38-caliber revolver, but Switzer immediately grabbed the gun away from him, resulting in a shot being fired that hit the ceiling. Switzer then forced Stiltz into a closet, despite Stiltz having gotten his hands back on the gun. Switzer then allegedly pulled a switchblade knife and screamed, "I'm going to kill you, [expletive]." and was attempting to stab Stiltz with it, but just as Switzer was about to charge Stiltz, Stiltz raised the gun and shot Switzer in the groin. Switzer died of massive internal bleeding and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He was 31 years old.

Jack Piott gave a second version of events to investigators. According to Piott, he and Switzer went to collect a debt from Stiltz, when an argument broke out. Piott said a brief struggle ensued and Stiltz brandished a gun and shot Switzer, who was unarmed at the time, in the groin. Then, according to police reports, only by begging for his own life was Piott able to save his own life.

The killing was held to be a justifiable homicide.[2] Switzer had allegedly pulled a knife; therefore, the shooting was judged to be self-defense. During the trial regarding Switzer's death, it was revealed that what was originally reported as a "hunting knife" was in fact merely a pocket knife. It had been found by crime scene investigators under his body, but with no blade exposed.

On January 25, 2001, a third witness came forward and gave his version of the events of January 21, 1959. The witness, 56-year-old Tom Corrigan, stepson of Moses Stiltz, was present the night Switzer was killed.

"It was more like murder," Corrigan told reporters. He said he heard the knock on the front door and was present when the argument broke out. He claimed to witness Stiltz grab the revolver and the two fight for control over it. During the struggle the gun fired into the ceiling and Corrigan was struck in the leg by a piece of shrapnel. After the intial shot, his two younger sisters ran to a neighbor's house to call for help. "Well, we shot Tommy. Enough of this," he remembers Switzer saying as he and Piott retreated. Corrigan was making his way to the front door when he heard a second shot go off behind him.

He didn't see his stepfather shoot Switzer, but when he turned around he saw Switzer sliding down the wall. Corrigan said he spotted a closed penknife at Switzer's side. He then witnessed his stepfather threaten to kill Piott, but as the man begged for his life, Corrigan's mother stepped between the two and managed to calm Stiltz down.

Following the shooting Corrigan claims a now-deceased Los Angeles Police Department detective, Pat Pow, interviewed him and asked him if he would testify before a judge. Corrigan claims to have agreed, although for unknown reasons he was never called before the coroner's jury. "He didn't have to kill him," Corrigan said.

Carl Switzer is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, p. 269. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
  2. ^ Death of a Little Rascal: After 40 years, eyewitness tells how Alfalfa died from Ventura County Star, January 21, 2001 by Colleen Cason

According to Nine MSN's aca, He was shot in the face, not the chest.

[edit] External links