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Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the Our Gang shorts and later costarred on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
Born in Oakland, California, Beckett got his start in show business at age three when the family moved to Los Angeles. A casting director heard him singing by chance at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital where his father was recovering from an illness. The director told his parents Beckett had movie potential. He auditioned, and landed a part in Gallant Lady (1933), alongside Dickie Moore. The same year, his father died.[citation needed] In 1934, he joined Our Gang, in which Moore had appeared from 1932 to 1933.
Beckett appeared as a regular in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1934 to 1935. In it, he played George "Spanky" McFarland's best friend and partner in mischief. His trademark look was a crooked baseball cap and an oversized sweater exposing one shoulder. His role was taken over by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in 1935, and he left the series for features in 1936. In 1939, he returned briefly as Alfalfa's cousin, Wilbur, in Cousin Wilbur and Dog Daze.
After his Our Gang tenure ended, Beckett won increasingly prominent roles in major Hollywood films, usually playing the star's son or the hero as a boy. Among his major credits are Dante's Inferno with Spencer Tracy, Anthony Adverse with Fredric March, The Charge of the Light Brigade with Errol Flynn, Conquest with Greta Garbo, Marie Antoinette with Norma Shearer; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, in which he played Jon Hall's character as a child, and Kings Row, in which he played Robert Cummings's character as a child. In 1940, he played Tim in My Favorite Wife, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. He appeared as one of the unborn children in Shirley Temple's The Blue Bird (1940). He also had a central role in the wartime film The Boy from Stalingrad (1943).
Beckett attended Los Angeles High School and took time off from filming to try his luck on the stage. Adolescence did not hamper his career, as he won important roles as that of young Al Jolson in The Jolson Story, with his singing voice provided by Rudy Wissler, and Junior in the radio show The Life of Riley. His performance as Jolson was described as "touching, enchanting, and to all indications, accurate". In 1947, he appeared alongside former Our Gang member Dickie Moore and Marilyn Monroe in Dangerous Years.
Beckett was signed by MGM in 1947, with his first role under contract as Will Parker in Cynthia. He gained the role of Oogie Pringle in A Date with Judy, the film adaptation of the radio series of the same name, opposite Jane Powell as Judy Foster. In 1949, he was featured in the war drama Battleground and the following year he starred as the fast-talking Tennessee Shad in the comedy The Happy Years. By 1950, the success of those three films resulted in expectations that his career would rise. Unfortunately, while other actors his age moved into leading roles, his career declined, as evidenced by his small role in Nancy Goes to Rio, again with Powell.
Beckett attended the University of Southern California, but dropped out when the combined workload of school and films became too great. Although he was working steadily at MGM, his life grew increasingly tumultuous in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1948, he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.
In 1954, Beckett's career took an upward turn when he was cast as Winky, the comic sidekick in the popular TV show Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. However, he was fired from the series after being arrested on a concealed weapons charge and for passing a bad check. According to actor Jimmy Lydon, who appeared with him in the Gasoline Alley films and also replaced him after he was fired from Rocky Jones, he earned a bad reputation due to his excessive drinking. Lydon also claimed that he made many enemies because he gambled frequently but refused to pay his gambling debts or repay money that was lent to him. After being fired from Rocky Jones, he made only a few subsequent TV and film appearances, some uncredited bit parts, before leaving show business forever.
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Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the Our Gang shorts and later costarred on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
Born in Oakland, California, Beckett got his start in show business at age three when the family moved to Los Angeles. A casting director heard him singing by chance at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital where his father was recovering from an illness. The director told his parents Beckett had movie potential. He auditioned, and landed a part in Gallant Lady (1933), alongside Dickie Moore. The same year, his father died.[citation needed] In 1934, he joined Our Gang, in which Moore had appeared from 1932 to 1933.
Beckett appeared as a regular in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1934 to 1935. In it, he played George "Spanky" McFarland's best friend and partner in mischief. His trademark look was a crooked baseball cap and an oversized sweater exposing one shoulder. His role was taken over by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in 1935, and he left the series for features in 1936. In 1939, he returned briefly as Alfalfa's cousin, Wilbur, in Cousin Wilbur and Dog Daze.
After his Our Gang tenure ended, Beckett won increasingly prominent roles in major Hollywood films, usually playing the star's son or the hero as a boy. Among his major credits are Dante's Inferno with Spencer Tracy, Anthony Adverse with Fredric March, The Charge of the Light Brigade with Errol Flynn, Conquest with Greta Garbo, Marie Antoinette with Norma Shearer; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, in which he played Jon Hall's character as a child, and Kings Row, in which he played Robert Cummings's character as a child. In 1940, he played Tim in My Favorite Wife, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. He appeared as one of the unborn children in Shirley Temple's The Blue Bird (1940). He also had a central role in the wartime film The Boy from Stalingrad (1943).
Beckett attended Los Angeles High School and took time off from filming to try his luck on the stage. Adolescence did not hamper his career, as he won important roles as that of young Al Jolson in The Jolson Story, with his singing voice provided by Rudy Wissler, and Junior in the radio show The Life of Riley. His performance as Jolson was described as "touching, enchanting, and to all indications, accurate". In 1947, he appeared alongside former Our Gang member Dickie Moore and Marilyn Monroe in Dangerous Years.
Beckett was signed by MGM in 1947, with his first role under contract as Will Parker in Cynthia. He gained the role of Oogie Pringle in A Date with Judy, the film adaptation of the radio series of the same name, opposite Jane Powell as Judy Foster. In 1949, he was featured in the war drama Battleground and the following year he starred as the fast-talking Tennessee Shad in the comedy The Happy Years. By 1950, the success of those three films resulted in expectations that his career would rise. Unfortunately, while other actors his age moved into leading roles, his career declined, as evidenced by his small role in Nancy Goes to Rio, again with Powell.
Beckett attended the University of Southern California, but dropped out when the combined workload of school and films became too great. Although he was working steadily at MGM, his life grew increasingly tumultuous in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1948, he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.
In 1954, Beckett's career took an upward turn when he was cast as Winky, the comic sidekick in the popular TV show Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. However, he was fired from the series after being arrested on a concealed weapons charge and for passing a bad check. According to actor Jimmy Lydon, who appeared with him in the Gasoline Alley films and also replaced him after he was fired from Rocky Jones, he earned a bad reputation due to his excessive drinking. Lydon also claimed that he made many enemies because he gambled frequently but refused to pay his gambling debts or repay money that was lent to him. After being fired from Rocky Jones, he made only a few subsequent TV and film appearances, some uncredited bit parts, before leaving show business forever.
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