Tommy Bond

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Tommy Bond

Tommy Bond as "Butch" during his second Our Gang tenure.
Born Thomas Ross Bond
September 16, 1926(1926-09-16)
Dallas, Texas U.S.
Died September 24, 2005 (aged 79)
Northridge, California U.S.
Other name(s) Butch
Occupation Film actor
Years active 1932-2004
For the Major League Baseball player, see Tommy Bond (baseball).
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Thomas Andrew Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor. A native of Dallas, Texas, Bond was best known for his work as a child actor in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedies, and also for being the first actor to portray the role of "Superman's pal" Jimmy Olsen on screen.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years and Our Gang

Bond got his start at the age of five when a talent scout for Hal Roach studios approached the lad as he was leaving a Dallas cinema with his mother. The scout asked him if he would like to act in films because he "had a great face" and set up an appointment with Hal Roach in Los Angeles. Hal Roach was gathering new talent for his popular Our Gang comedies. Bond's grandmother Jane Quin Sauter volunteered to drive the boy to L.A. by motor car. The year was 1931, in the depth of the Great Depression. It proved to be a grueling journey, punctuated by flash floods and encounters with tarantulas, on mostly dirt roads from Dallas to L.A.

Tommy was notable for appearing in Roach's Our Gang short subjects series (later broadcast on television as The Little Rascals). Bond was hired as a recurring character in 1931 at the same time as George "Spanky" McFarland was hired. Bond's first Our Gang short was, ironically, a 1932 showcase for McFarland entitled Spanky. Bond appeared in twelve Our Gang shorts under his own name as a supporting character between 1932 and 1934 (his most substantive role is as the band conductor in 1934's Mike Fright).

In 1934, Bond left the series and returned to public school, earning periodic bit parts in Hollywood productions. He also worked as a voice actor, most notably as the speaking voice of "Owl Jolson" in Tex Avery's 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Love to Singa. He also provided a voice for another of Avery's Merrie Melodies cartoons, Don't Look Now (1937). Bond returned to Our Gang in 1936, when Roach hired him to play the recurring character of "Butch", the neighborhood bully. Bond's first short as Butch was Glove Taps, released in 1937. Besides filling the role of the archetypal Our Gang bully, the Butch character also regularly competed with meek Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) for the affections of his sweetheart Darla (Darla Hood). While an Our Ganger, Bond appeared in a number of outside films, such as those featuring fellow Hal Roach Studios comedians Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy.

As Butch, Bond remained with Our Gang an additional three years, staying with the series when it moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. His final Our Gang short, Bubbling Troubles, was shot in late 1939 and released in 1940.

Tommy Bond in 2001.
Tommy Bond in 2001.

[edit] Later years

After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Bond returned to acting ,and appeared in a handful of East Side Kids, and Gas House Kids features alongside former on-screen rival Carl Switzer. In the late 1940s, Bond became the first actor to portray cub news photographer Jimmy Olsen in two Superman film serials, Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). He also appeared as Joey Pepper in several installments of the Five Little Peppers serial.

In 1951, Bond graduated from college and quit acting to stay in show business on the other side of the camera in television directing and production, and worked with individuals such as Norman Lear, George Schlatter, and many others. Bond retired from television in 1991. In his latter years he lived in the Fresno and Madera Ranchos area, and served as a spokesman for a number of Our Gang-related materials. Bond published his autobiography, Darn Right It's Butch: Memories of Our Gang/The Little Rascals, with the help of Fresno teacher, film historian and co-author Ron Genini, in 1994. Tommy's son, Thomas R. Bond II "Butch, Jr.", who is a film and television producer, worked with his father in their family production company, the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. The senior Bond also hosted "The Rascals," a documentary on the life and times of the Little Rascals.

Throughout his lifetime, Bond appeared in over 73 films, was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, joining in 1937, and worked with many Hollywood stars in the years of 1933 to 1951, including James Stewart, Eleanor Powell, Ray Bolger, Frank Morgan, and Eddie Cantor among many others.

Even though Bond had a career that spanned over 65 years he never received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2004 a monument was dedicated on Hollywood and Vine commemorating the first movie made in Hollywood, made by Bond's company, American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Less than a year later, the 2.8 ton monument was stolen in April, 2005. Bond felt because of the monument's size, it had to have been an "inside job." Bond was so upset, he swore that the company would never shoot any project in the district of Hollywood. Quoting Bond "The Hollywood I grew up in used to be a wonderful and magical place, with great folks. Now it is somewhere I would never want to be."

Tommy Bond, Sr. died on September 24, 2005 due to complications from heart disease in Los Angeles, California. Bond died just eight days after his 79th birthday. He is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.

[edit] Further reading

Bond, Tommy, w. Genini, Ron (1994). Darn Right It's Butch: Memories of Our Gang/The Little Rascals. Delaware: Morgan Press. ISBN 0-9630976-5-2.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Bond, Tommy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bond, Thomas Ross
SHORT DESCRIPTION Film actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1926-9-16
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas, Texas U.S.
DATE OF DEATH 2005-9-24
PLACE OF DEATH Northridge, California U.S.
Languages