George McFarland

George Robert Phillips McFarland (October 2, 1928 - June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for his childhood role as Spanky in the depression era children's comedy movie series Our Gang, also known as the Little Rascals. McFarland was born in Dallas, Texas on October 2, 1928 - not in Ft. Worth as many biographies report. His nickname "Spanky" is said to have arisen from repeated warnings by his mother not to misbehave. He was discovered at the age of three and soon became a regular and then most popular member of the children's comedy movie series Our Gang during the 1930s and 1940s. He played the role of an enterprising kid in the series and the de facto leader of the gang. In January 1994, "Spanky" became the only Our Gang member to receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

In later years some in his family affectionately would refer to him as just "Spank". His middle names came from family names, Robert after his father and Phillips was his mother's maiden name (George was his father's brother's name). Other biographies incorrectly report his middle name as being Emmett; however this was his father's middle name. His brother Tommy, who was also named after their father (Thomas Emmett McFarland), passed away in 1982, and McFarland died of a heart attack on June 30, 1993 followed by his mother just 30 days later.

Note: Folk-rock singer Elaine Macfarlane is known as "Spanky" from her tenure in the group Spanky and Our Gang, which was named in honor of the film troupe. She is not related to Spank.