| Stanley Fafara | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stanley Albert Fafara September 20, 1949 San Francisco, California, USA |
| Died | September 20, 2003 (aged 54) Portland, Oregon |
Stanley Albert Fafara (September 20, 1949 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Whitey" Whitney in the original Leave It to Beaver television series. He appeared in forty-two of the show's 234 episodes. His older brother, Tiger, played "Tooey Brown" in the series.
Fafara was born September 20, 1949 in San Francisco, California. By 1957, seven year old Stanley Fafara's mother took him to an open casting call for a new television series about a suburban family entitled "Leave It To Beaver." He had been working in commercials and television westerns since the age of four. He earned the part as "Whitey" Whitney, one of the lead character's best friends.
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Stanley enjoyed six years on the sitcom, and after the cancellation of "Leave It To Beaver" in 1963, Stanley attended North Hollywood High School. While there, he developed a liking for alcohol and soon learned how to use his fame to best advantage. He became friendly with the pop-rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders and reportedly moved in with the band for a time. He discovered hard drugs in the mid 1960's, an unfortunate obsession that would dog him for many years to come.
For a while, at his parent's insistence, he attempted living with his sister in Jamica, where he tried his hand at painting. But he couldn't abstain from his drug use. He then returned to Los Angeles at age 22, where he married briefly. Fafara began supporting himself by dealing illegal drugs. Made worse, later he was convicted of breaking into pharmacies and sentenced to a year in jail. After being incarcerated, Stanley tried his hand at being a roofer, waiter and janitor before descending back into drug use, particularly heroin. He was in-and-out of rehab centers for many years, eventually getting sober in 1995.
Fafara reportedly spent the final eight years of his life clean and sober, initially living in a house for recovering addicts and alcoholics, then in a subsidized apartment near Portland's "skid row", where he lived on Social Security checks of $475.00 per month until his hospitalization in 2003.[1] He managed to turn his life around and he finally conquered his addictions, without any relapses. But unfortunately he had already contracted hepatitis C.
Eventually Stanley re-established a relationship with a daughter who he hadn't seen in twenty years, and became close to his nephew, former Coal Chamber and current DevilDriver vocalist Dez Fafara, son of Tiger Fafara. He also kept in contact with other child actors who were in recovery, and helped fellow addicts to stay clean and sober. He started a business designing web sites, and was beginning to have some success. At the time of his death he had a flat in Portland's Mark Harfield Building, an apartment complex created for people in recovery from addiction.
He died September 20, 2003, on his 54th birthday, in Portland, Oregon, of complications from hernia surgery. Stanley Fafara was given two well-attended funerals, and was buried at Redland Pioneer Cemetery, in Redland, Oregon. Sadly, his grave is unmarked.