Scotty Beckett
Profile[]
Name: Scotty Beckett
Nickname: None
Played By: Scott Beckett
Born: 1929
Relatives: Gus (uncle)
Clubs: The International Silver String Submarine Band, Ancient And Honery Order Of Wood Chucks
First Short: Hi'-Neighbor!
Last Short: The Lucky Corner
Character[]
Bio: Little Scotty Beckett with the crooked hat and big sweater was Spanky McFarland's original best friend. Unlike the later Alfalfa Switzer who sometimes pressed Spanky's buttons with the size of his ego and personality, the two of them were pals as they scrounged the neighborhood for the parts to build Wally's extra large fire engine, even if they got pushed aside in the building. However, Scotty did sometimes push Spanky's buttons with his occasional dumbness and clumsiness, such as when he accidentally slams a door in Spanky's face (twice) in The First Round-Up. These types of gags between Scotty and Spanky are clearly imitations of the type of gags Laurel and Hardy would do. Despite being the younger kids in the group early on, Spanky and Scotty turned out to be smarter than the bigger kids at times, as they revealed to the others that the fire engine was too big to get out of the barn in Hi'-Neighbor!. They also proved to be smart enough to bring food and supplies to their camping trip at Cherry Creek in The First Round-Up.
Scotty lives with his parents and raises rabbits in a small shack on the property, as seen in Hi'-Neighbor!. He is constantly being reminded by his mother to clean his shoes in Sprucin' Up, but he also spends time with his Grandpa Gus who runs and operates a mobile lemonade stand in The Lucky Corner. In Shrimps For A Day, Scotty resides briefly at the Happy Home Orphanage as do many of the other kids. He attends the same church as Spanky, Alfalfa, Jerry and Leonard and Adams Street Grammar School with the other kids. On his own time, the gang has a musical band called The International Silver String Submarine Band which competes for a radio contest in Mike Fright, later razzing Spanky's forced solo act in Beginner's Luck. The band seems to be much more successful than their club, the Ancient And Honery Order Of Wood Chucks, which broke up after just one day in Anniversary Trouble. For exercise, Scotty enjoys football and hunts the beach looking for treasure in Mama's Little Pirate, even if Spanky dreamed up their bigger adventure with a giant pirate. He also chases the gang's pet mule, Algebra, through Wally's house in Honky Donkey, busting up the house once again in Washee Ironee.
Scotty doesn't stay very long in Greenpoint, vanishing soon after Spanky's cellar revue in Our Gang Follies Of 1936, but Alfalfa's Cousin Wilbur, seen in Dog Daze, bears a striking resemblance to him.
Quotes:
- "They'll never learn." - Scotty in For Pete's Sake
- Barkley: "Thank you, gigantically."
Scotty: "It's a pleasure." (From Honky Donkey). - "Maybe we ain't us?" - Scotty in Mike Fright
- "Yeah all my mom wants me to do is clean my shoes , they only get dirty again"-Scotty in Sprucin' up
Notes/Trivia[]
- Production-wise, Our Gang Follies Of 1936 was possibly filmed after The Lucky Corner, but since The Lucky Corner aired after the other, it's being listed as Scotty's last official short.
- Through his run in Our Gang, Scotty is absent from only one short, Little Sinner.
- Scotty, Wheezer, Spanky, Kendall McComas and Porky are the only main characters to wear hats.
- Much like Wheezer Hutchins and Stymie Beard, Scotty's appearances in his later short end up over-shadowed by the appearances of new Rascals. He does appear prominently with Alfalfa in The Lucky Corner, which would be his last short.
- Scotty is one of the few Rascals to share his real name with his character. Others accomplish this include Darla, Mary, Mickey, Harry, Jackie, Tommy, Jackie, Janet, Jean and Johnny although some of older Rascals sometimes played extra characters besides their main roles. The majority of the child stars in the series had childhood nick-names (Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Porky....) or alternate names (Butch, Waldo, Imogene....).
- Along with several Rascals, Scotty made random appearances in later Our Gang iterations.