Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer

Carl Switzer
File:White Christmas photo..jpg Switzer as "Freckle-Faced Haynes" in the 1954 film, White Christmas
Born	Carl Dean Switzer (1927-08-07)August 7, 1927 Paris, Illinois, U.S.
Died	January 21, 1959(1959-01-21) (aged 31) Mission Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot wound
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Nationality	American
Other names	Alfalfa Switser
Occupation(s)	Actor, dog breeder, hunting guide
Years active	1935–1958
Known for	Portraying Alfalfa in Our Gang
Spouse	Diantha M. Collingwood ​ ​ (m. 1954⁠–⁠1956)​
Children	1
Relatives	Harold Switzer (brother)

Carl Dean Switzer (August 7, 1927 – January 21, 1959) was an American actor, professional dog breeder and hunting guide.

Switzer began his career as a child actor in the mid-1930s appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as Alfalfa, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters. After the series ended in 1940, Switzer struggled to find substantial roles due to typecasting. As an adult, he appeared mainly in bit parts and B-movies. He later became a dog breeder and hunting guide.

Switzer married in 1954 and had one son before divorcing in 1956. In January 1959, he was fatally shot by an acquaintance over a dispute about money.

Early life and family

Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois, the second son, fourth and last child of Gladys C. Shanks and George Frederick Switzer. He was named Carl after the Switzer family and Dean after many relatives in his grandmother's family. He and his older brother, Harold, became famous around their hometown for their musical talent and performances; both sang and played a number of instruments.

Career

Our Gang

Switzer (right) as "Alfalfa" in Our Gang Follies of 1938, with fellow Our Gang cast members George "Spanky" McFarland and Darla Hood.

In 1934. the Switzers took a trip to California to visit with family members. While sightseeing they eventually wound up at Hal Roach Studios. Following a public tour of the facility, 8-year-old Harold and 6-year-old Carl entered into the Hal Roach Studio's open-to-the-public cafeteria, the Our Gang Café, and began an impromptu performance. Producer Hal Roach was present at the commissary that day and was impressed by the performance. He signed both Switzers to appear in Our Gang. Harold was given two nicknames, "Slim" and "Deadpan," and Carl was dubbed "Alfalfa."

The Switzer brothers first appeared in the 1935 Our Gang short, Beginner's Luck. By the end of the year, Alfalfa was one of the main characters in the series, while Harold had more or less been relegated to the role of a background player. Although Carl Switzer was an experienced singer and musician, his character Alfalfa was often called upon to sing off-key renditions of pop standards and contemporary hits, most often those of Bing Crosby. Alfalfa also sported cowlicks.

By the end of 1937, Switzer had supplanted George "Spanky" McFarland, the series' nominal star, in popularity. While the two boys managed to get along, their fathers fought and argued constantly over their sons' screen time and salaries. Switzer's best friend among the Our Gang kids was Tommy Bond, who played his on-screen nemesis "Butch". In Bond's words, he and Switzer became good friends because "neither of us could replace the other since we played opposites." Switzer was known for being abrasive and difficult on the set. He would often play cruel jokes on the other children and would hold up filming with his antics.

The production rights for Our Gang were sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938, and the first two years' worth of MGM-produced series entries focused heavily on the Alfalfa character and his family.

Adult years

Switzer's tenure on Our Gang ended in 1940, when he was twelve. His first role after leaving the Our Gang series was a co-starring role in 1941 comedy film Reg'lar Fellers. The next year, he had a supporting role in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. Switzer continued to appear in films in various supporting roles, including Johnny Doughboy (1942), Going My Way (1944), and The Great Mike (1944). Switzer also had an uncredited part in the 1943 film The Human Comedy as Auggie. Switzer's last starring roles were in a brief series of imitation-Bowery Boys movies; he reprised his "Alfalfa" characterization, complete with comically sour vocals, in PRC's Gas House Kids comedies of 1946 and 1947. Switzer preferred not to recall his Our Gang work; in his 1946 resume he referred to the gang films generically as "M-G-M short product."

In 1946, Switzer had a small part in the 1946 Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life as Mary Hatch's (Donna Reed) date at the high school dance in the beginning of the film. In the 1954 musical film White Christmas, his picture is used to depict an Army buddy (named "Freckle-Faced Haynes") of lead characters Wallace and Davis (played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye), and also the brother of the female leads the Haynes Sisters (played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen).

In the 1950s, Switzer turned television. From 1952 to 1955, he made six appearances on The Roy Rogers Show. He also guest-starred in an episode of the American science fiction anthology series Science Fiction Theatre, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. In 1953 and 1954, Switzer co-starred in three William A. Wellman-directed films: Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty, both starring John Wayne, and Track of the Cat starring Robert Mitchum. In 1956, he co-starred in The Bowery Boys film Dig That Uranium, followed by a bit part as a Hebrew slave in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Switzer's final film role was in drama film The Defiant Ones.

In addition to acting, Switzer bred and trained hunting dogs and guided hunting expeditions. Among his more notable clients were Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Switzer's son's godparents), James Stewart and Henry Fonda.

Personal life

In early 1954, Switzer was set up on a blind date with Diantha (Dian) Collingwood (November 19, 1930–November 29, 2004), the heiress of grain elevator empire Collingwood Grain. Collingwood had moved with her mother and sister to California from Hutchinson in 1953 because her sister wanted to become an actress. Switzer and Collingwood were married in Las Vegas three months later. In 1956, with money running dry and Dian pregnant, her mother offered her and Switzer a farm north of Pretty Prairie, west of Wichita. A son, Justin Lance Collingwood Switzer (now Eldridge), was born early that year in Garden City, and the couple was divorced in 1957.

In 1987, former Our Gang co-star Spanky McFarland recalled a meeting with Switzer concerning the farm:

The last time I saw Carl was 1957. It was a tough time for me—and him. I was starting a tour of theme parks and county fairs in the Midwest. Carl had married this girl whose father owned a pretty good size farm near Wichita. When I came through town, he heard about it and called. He told me he was helping to run the farm, but he finally had to put a radio on the tractor while he was out there plowing. Knowing Carl, I knew that wasn't going to last. He may have come from Paris, Illinois, but he wasn't a farmer! We hadn't seen each other since we left the gang. So we had lunch; we talked—about all the things you'd expect. And then I never saw him again. He looked pretty much the same. He was just Carl Switzer—kind of cocky, a little antsy—and I thought to myself he hadn't changed that much. He still talked big. He just grew up.

— George McFarland

In January 1958, Switzer was getting into his car in front of a bar in Studio City when a bullet smashed through the window and struck him in the upper right arm. The suspect was never identified. In December of that year, he was arrested in Sequoia National Forest for cutting down 15 pine trees. He was sentenced to a year's probation and ordered to pay a $225 fine.

Death

Grave of Carl Switzer on August 7, 2012, the 85th anniversary of his birth.

Prior to a hunting guide job, Switzer agreed to train a hunting dog for Moses Samuel "Bud" Stiltz. After the dog was lost, having run after a bear, Switzer offered a $50 reward for the dog's return. A man found the dog a few days later and brought it to the Studio City bar where Switzer was working. Switzer paid the man $35 and bought him $15 worth of drinks from the bar. Several days later, on the evening of January 21, 1959, Switzer and his friend, 37-year-old unit still photographer Jack Piott, came to the conclusion that Stiltz owed Switzer the $50 paid to the man who found the dog. Shortly before 7:00 p.m. that evening, the pair arrived at Rita Corrigan's home in Mission Hills, where Stiltz was staying, to collect the money Stiltz "owed" Switzer.

According to Stiltz's testimony, he banged on his front door, demanding, "Let me in, or I'll kick in the door." Once Switzer was inside the home, he and Stiltz got into an argument. Switzer informed Stiltz that he wanted the money owed him, saying "I want that 50 bucks you owe me now, and I mean now." When Stiltz refused to hand over the money, the two engaged in a fight. Switzer allegedly struck Stiltz in the head with a glass-domed clock, which caused him to bleed from his left eye. Stiltz retreated to his bedroom and returned holding a .38-caliber revolver, but Switzer immediately grabbed the gun away from him, resulting in a shot being fired that hit the ceiling. Switzer then forced Stiltz into a closet, despite Stiltz having gotten his hands back on the gun. Switzer then allegedly pulled a switchblade knife and screamed, "I'm going to kill you" and was attempting to stab him with it, but just as Switzer was about to charge Stiltz, Stiltz raised the gun and shot Switzer in the groin. Switzer suffered massive internal bleeding and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Carl Switzer is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Switzer died on the same day as Cecil B. DeMille. Switzer received only minor footnotes in most newspapers, while DeMille's obituary dominated the columns.

Controversy

The killing was ruled to be a justifiable homicide. Switzer had allegedly pulled a knife; therefore, the shooting was judged to be self-defense. During the inquest regarding Switzer's death, it was revealed that what was originally reported as a "hunting knife" was in fact merely a penknife. It had been found by crime scene investigators under his body, but with no blade exposed.

On January 25, 2001, a third witness came forward and gave his version of the events of January 21, 1959. The witness, 56-year-old Tom Corrigan, son of Western movie star Ray "Crash" Corrigan and stepson of Moses Stiltz, was present the night Switzer was killed.

"It was more like murder," Corrigan told reporters. He said he heard the knock on the front door and heard Switzer say "Western Union for Bud Stiltz". Corrigan's mother, Rita Corrigan, opened the door to find a drunk and demanding Switzer complaining about a perceived, months-old debt. Switzer entered the house followed by Jack Piott and stated that he was going to beat Stiltz. Stiltz greeted Switzer with a .38-caliber revolver in his hand. Tom Corrigan claimed to witness Switzer grab the revolver and the two began struggling to gain control over it. Piott broke a glass-domed clock over Stiltz's head, then Stiltz's eye swelled shut. During the struggle the gun fired into the ceiling and Tom Corrigan was struck in the leg by a piece of fragmentation. After the initial shot, his two younger sisters ran to a neighbor's house to call for help. "Well, we shot Tommy, enough of this," he remembers Switzer saying before Switzer and Piott started to retreat. Corrigan had just stepped out the front door when he heard a second shot go off behind him. He did not see his stepfather shoot Switzer, but when he turned around he saw Switzer sliding down the wall with a surprised look on his face—shot in the groin. Corrigan said he spotted a closed penknife at Switzer's side which he presumed fell out of his pocket or his hand. He then witnessed his stepfather back Piott into the kitchen counter and threaten to kill him, but as the man begged for his life, they heard emergency sirens, which is why Corrigan believed Stiltz did not shoot him. Corrigan recalled that his stepfather lied in his account of the event to the authorities.

Following the shooting, Corrigan claims a now-deceased Los Angeles Police Department detective, Pat Pow, interviewed him and asked him if he would testify before a judge. Corrigan claims to have agreed, although for unknown reasons he was never called before the coroner's jury. "He didn't have to kill him," Corrigan said.

Selected filmography

Main article: Our Gang filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Beginner's Luck	Alfalfa	Short film
1935	Teacher's Beau	Alfalfa	Short film
1935	Sprucin' Up	Alfalfa	Short film
1935	Our Gang Follies of 1936	Alfalfa	Short film
1936	The Lucky Corner	Alfalfa	Short film
1936	Arbor Day	Alfalfa	Short film
1936	Kelly the Second	Boy with Stomach Ache	Uncredited
1936	Spooky Hooky	Alfalfa	Short film
1937	Reunion in Rhythm	Alfalfa	Short film
1937	Rushin' Ballet	Alfalfa	Short film
1937	Mail and Female	Alfalfa/Cousin Amiela	Short film
1937	Our Gang Follies of 1938	Alfalfa	Short film
1938	Canned Fishing	Alfalfa	Short film
1938	Came the Brawn	Alfalfa	Short film
1938	Hide and Shriek	Alfalfa, alias X-10	Short film
1938	Football Romeo	Alfalfa	Short film
1939	Duel Personalities	Alfalfa	Short film
1939	Clown Princes	The Great Alfalfa	Short film
1939	Captain Spanky's Show Boat	Alfalfa	Short film
1939	Time Out for Lessons	Alfalfa	Short film
1940	Alfalfa's Double	Alfalfa/Cornelius	Short film
1940	Good Bad Boys	Alfalfa	Short film
1940	Goin' Fishin'	Alfalfa	Short film
1940	Kiddie Kure	Alfalfa	Short film
1941	Reg'lar Fellers	Bump Hudson
1942	My Favorite Blonde	Frederick	Uncredited
1942	Henry and Dizzy	Billy Weeks
1942	There's One Born Every Minute	Junior Twine	Credited as Alfalfa Switser
1942	The War Against Mrs. Hadley	Messenger Boy
1943	The Human Comedy	Auggie	Uncredited
1943	Dixie	Boy in Street	Uncredited
1944	Rosie the Riveter	Buzz Prouty
1944	Going My Way	Herman Langerhanke	Uncredited
1944	The Great Mike	Speck
1944	Together Again	Elevator Boy	Uncredited
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Freddie Othello	Uncredited
1948	On Our Merry Way	Leopold "Zoot" Wirtz	Alternative title: A Miracle Can Happen
1948	State of the Union	Bellboy
1948	Big Town Scandal	Frankie Snead	Alternative title: Underworld Scandal
1949	A Letter to Three Wives	Leo, Second Messenger	Uncredited
1950	House by the River	Walter Herbert	Uncredited
1951	Two Dollar Bettor	Chuck Nordlinger
1951	Here Comes the Groom	Messenger	Uncredited
1952	Pat and Mike	Messenger
1952	I Dream of Jeanie	Freddie	Credited as Carl Dean Switzer
1953	Island in the Sky	Sonny Hopper
1954	The High and the Mighty	Ensign Keim
1954	Track of the Cat	Joe Sam
1955	Not as a Stranger	Unexpected Father	Uncredited
1955	Francis in the Navy	Timekeeper	Uncredited
1956	Dig That Uranium	Shifty Robertson	Uncredited
1956	The Ten Commandments	Slave	Uncredited
1956	Between Heaven and Hell	Savage	Uncredited
1958	The Defiant Ones	Angus

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952-1955	The Roy Rogers Show	Various roles	6 episodes
1954	The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show	Victor the Delivery Boy	Episode: "George Gets Call from Unknown Victor"
1955	Lux Video Theatre	Mailer	Episode: "Eight Iron Men"
1955	Science Fiction Theatre	Pete	Episode: "The Negative Man"

External links

• Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer at IMDb
• Template:Amg name
• When Young Stars Burn Out at MSN.com
• Carl Switzer at The Crime Library
• Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer at Find a Grave