The Terrible Catsafterme

It’s hard to believe that 2014 saw me meeting more newly discovered members of the Our Gang than any year since 1980. Of course the Sons of the Desert convention in Hollywood this summer solidified that, and that record probably would have stood had I not met any more this year. After all, the chances of running into Dickie Moore or Annie Ross in New York were very slim, and since I didn’t plan any further trips to Hollywood, I had absolutely no reason to think I’d meet any more. But fate has always been generous with me when it comes to this topic…

When my friend Bob asked me if I could get together a few screen shots for him to have Georgia Jean LaRue sign, my first reaction was glee…that she had been located alive and well. My second reaction was a little upset…that I had just been in Hollywood and now she was discovered. You see, I had been on her trail for years and years, always hoping beyond hope that I might locate her and get an autograph or even a phone interview, but her trail always ran ice cold. I had actually given up years ago too.

I did a quick search on the internet and saw that there had been other fans trying to find her as well. One deduced that she was living in Franklin, Tennessee – city just south of Nashville. I assumed they were wrong since Bob was going to see her in Hollywood…but when he sent me a photo from Atlanta on September 6, 2014, it suddenly struck me. He’s not in Hollywood. Could she really be in the Nashville area?

Why, yes in fact she was. After giving Bob a call, five minutes later I had decided: I’m heading to Nashville. No one was going to meet Georgia Jean LaRue without me! I had to scramble around a bit to get the time off work, and Carolyn was thankfully able to do the same, and on Tuesday morning, September 9, we were loaded in the car and on our way to Music City.

So I guess I could break in here and inform those who are not in the know when it comes to the Our Gang exactly who Georgia Jean was. She only had roles in two of the films, but I’d dare say anyone who ever saw her has never forgotten her. In each film – Reunion in Rhythm and Our Gang Follies of 1938, one released in January of 1937, the other in December – she has a show-stopping musical number, utilizing one of the most beautiful and powerful tenor voices ever to come out of a little girl.

Her part in Reunion in Rhythm is part of an act with Alfalfa during a school play (hosting several Our Gang graduates no less) in which she and Alfalfa star in the segment Hopeless Love. She plays “Mirandy”, Alfalfa’s bride-to-be. But she isn’t so sure; she’s rather hit it big time by going to Hollywood, and she tells him so by singing Going Hollywood with all her might.

When the kids take their curtain call, she is right there along with the Little Rascal staples: Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Porky, Buckwheat…and Georgia.

Her second appearance with the Our Gang is in Our Gang Follies of 1938. She is the girl who gets zapped by Darla the Love Bug and comes alive singing That Foolish Feeling, which is followed by her partner (played by Philip MacMahon) belting out You’re the One for Me. It’s one of my all-time favorite Our Gang musical numbers. I sang it for days before our meeting. I’ve sang it for weeks after…

Here’s something interesting: her name is not Georgia and never was. It’s actually Georgie. So from now on I’m going to call her by her real name. When Georgie walked into the restaurant where we were meeting (which happened to be one featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives…but more on that later), she toted a giant scrapbook of clippings that her parents had made and saved for her. She said that this would serve as proof as to whom she was. But we didn’t need any. Not at all. The face was unmistakable. She was perhaps the most youthful 86-year old there ever was, and I could see Georgia in Georgie from top to bottom.

Georgie was born March 14, 1928, in Toledo, Ohio. Her father George worked for the Toledo Blade newspaper, and Georgie was hired as a singer and dancer to support orchestra leader Jan Garber on a radio show on which he was performing in the Toledo area. She also toured with Garber and at one point they wound up playing a show on Catalina Island in California. An employee of the Hal Roach Studios happened to be at the show, possibly scouting talent, possibly just on a weekend getaway. But it worked out well for Georgie, who soon found herself signed up to star in the next Our Gang comedy Reunion in Rhythm.

Georgia with child star Jane Withers and orchestra leader Jan Garber. It was Jan who started referring to her as “Georgia” in promo materials for the orchestra.

Paper from Georgie’s (note spelling) first school assignment at the Hal Roach Studios, November 30, 1936

But after her appearance in the Our Gang Follies of 1938, that’s where her film career ended. She went on to live a full and exciting life with wonderful children and grandchildren. Her late third husband was the same guy as her first husband…and her second husband Ken Lane was a co-composer of Dean Martin’s signature song Everybody Loves Somebody and performed as Dean’s pianist on The Dean Martin Show. She lived most of her adult life in Lake Tahoe, returning to the Nashville area to be close to her family.

Until this year, not a soul had ever contacted her about her appearance in the Our Gang comedies. It was my utter pleasure to be part of changing that. She was a complete delight, had a razor sharp memory, had no ego about her place in film history, nor had any interest in capitalizing on it. She didn’t seem particularly surprised to learn how many fans out there were interested, but only responded to it with a slight, passing interest. I personally felt extremely comfortable right away talking to her about anything and everything as we enjoyed our lunch together.

There aren’t a lot of people that I’d rearrange my schedule and drive five hours to have lunch with, but Georgie Jean LaRue was most certainly one of them.

Return to the Nashville trip here...

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2014 at 6:57 am and is filed under 2010's - Early, Autographs, Celebrity Encounters, Laurel and Hardy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.