William "Billy" Naylor - Our Gang (1916 - 2011)

[Paul E. Gierucki]

NOTE: Although Naylor is not the last OG silent era survivor, this story is of interest.
-- PG

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/14/ ... silent-era

'Our Gang' star from silent era dies in Vero Beach
By Tyler Treadway

Originally published 12:46 p.m., October 14, 2011
Updated 01:28 p.m., October 14, 2011

VERO BEACH — Before "Spanky," before "Buckwheat," before "Alfalfa" and, for that matter, before "talkies," William A. "Billy" Naylor was a member of "Our Gang."

Naylor, 95, thought to be the last surviving star of the silent era "Our Gang" comedies, died Oct. 5 at Royal Palm Skilled Nursing Facility in Vero Beach.

The "Our Gang" kids, aka "The Little Rascals," were featured in dozens of short comedy films from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s about the adventures, and misadventures, of a group of children. The cast changed several times over the years. Billy Naylor appeared in several early silent films when the main stars were Mickey Daniels, Joe Cobb, Allen "Farina" Hoskins and Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison.

The more famous George "Spanky" McFarland, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer joined the gang for "talkies" in the 1930s.

Naylor's "Our Gang" movies included three made in 1926:

Uncle Tom's Uncle: The gang puts on a version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"; Naylor played a boy in the audience.

The Fourth Alarm: The gang forms a junior fire department, with Naylor a member of the squad.

Telling Whoppers: The gang takes on the neighborhood bully. Naylor overhears the bully's mother tell a police officer her son is missing and reports it to his buddies.

Before joining "Our Gang," Naylor appeared in several "Hey Fellas!" comic short films — including "The Klynick" and "Tin Hoss," both made in 1925 — that copied the "Our Gang" format.

After "Our Gang," Naylor appeared in many more movies, including Cecil B. DeMille's "The King of Kings" in 1927, in which he played a boy watching Jesus fix a doll, and "Special Agent" in 1935 starring Bette Davis, in which he was a newsboy.

"Uncle Bill was a very private person," said Jeanne Dunphy, 87, of Sebastian, Naylor's niece. "He never talked about being in movies. I remember telling him, 'You were a movie star.' Maybe he wasn't a movie star like Carole Lombard or Clark Gable, but he was a movie star in our eyes."

Naylor was born in San Francisco and lived most of his life in Los Angeles before moving to Vero Beach in February to be close to family members.

At 18, Naylor became the youngest actor at the time to join of the Screen Actors Guild. After appearing in movies, he continued to work at the Warner Bros. studio as casting director and sound effects editor.

He was preceded in death by his wife of more than 30 years, Valena Blaney.

Dunphy remembers seeing "Reducing," a 1931 comedy about a beauty parlor/"reducing" salon in which Naylor appeared, with her uncle and aunt in the late 1960s at a Hollywood theater specializing in classic films.

"The theater was filled with people in their 30s and 40s interested in old movies," she said. "But Uncle Bill didn't tell anyone that he was there and he had been in that movie. That's just how he was."

No services are scheduled. Arrangements are by The Neptune Society.

[Joe Moore]

Jean Darling had this to say when I posted the Billy Naylor obit/article on a group she frequents.

Joe Moore

I joined the Screen actors Guild when it was organized at about 10 years

old when playing Polly Armstrong in H bar O and touting Woodbury's Soap

on Bing Crosby's program on Radio KHJ. I am still alive and kicking, and I


appeared in many silent films from age 6 months to being in OUR GANG

for 48 silents and 6 talkies. So the thing about being Naylor the last
anything

is just another untrue bit of nonsense.



Jean Darling