'Little Rascals' actor Thomas Bond dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thomas Ross Bond, who played Butch the bully in the "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" serials of the 1930s, has died. He was 79.

Bond died Saturday of complications from heart disease at Northridge Hospital, said his manager, Frank Marks.

Bond played a member of the Gang named Tommy. After his first year he was dropped from the cast but returned later in the role of Butch, the archenemy of Alfalfa.

Bond appeared in dozens of "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals" features before outgrowing the role.
 
Born Sept. 16, 1926 in Dallas, Bond got his start at the age of 5 when a talent scout for Hal Roach studios approached him as he was leaving a movie theater with his mother.

The scout "asked him if he'd be interested in acting, (said) he had a great face and he could set up an appointment with Hal Roach in L.A.," Marks said.

His grandmother drove him in what, at the time, was a rugged journey: "It was all dirt roads from Dallas to L.A," Marks said.

In the 1940s, Bond played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman movies and appeared as Joey Pepper in several installments of the "Five Little Peppers" serial.

Bond said the role of 'Butch' stuck with him -- in both good ways and not so good -- long after he'd grown up.

In 1951, Bond quit acting and went into television directing and production work before retiring in 1991.

Bond is survived by his wife, Pauline, son Thomas Ross Bond III and a grandson.

I think I'll watch a few 'Our Gang' movies over the next few days. They always make me feel good.

I wish they'd bring them back to TV.