Billie Thomas

Acting

Billie Thomas

Born — Died

1931-03-12 — 1980-10-10

Place of birth

Los Angeles, California, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

William "Billie" Thomas Jr. was an American child actor best remembered for portraying the character of Buckwheat in the Our Gang short films from 1934 until the series' end in 1944. He was a native of Los Angeles. Wikipedia

Known for

Film credits

1940s · 20 titles

Come Back, Miss Pipps poster
7.7

On Mickey's birthday, Miss Pipps, the school teacher, serves cake and ice cream during school hours. Sour old Mr. Pratt, head of the school board, stumbles on the festivities and has Miss Pipps fired. The Our Gang conspire to save her job by inviting all the parents to a special meeting. There the gang stage a melodrama, with Mr. Pratt portrayed as Simon Legree. The parents react by demoting Mr. Pratt to janitor. They appoint kindly Mr. Swanson, the current janitor, to head the school board. And of course they reinstate Miss Pipps as school teacher. Sometime later, in an act of forgiveness, Miss Pipps and the gang hold a birthday party for Pratt who is then humbled by the experience.

Come Back, Miss Pipps

1941

Colorado Pioneers poster
7.0

An interesting entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" B-Western series, this film is not about hardy settlers braving the Colorado winters, as the title would suggest. Instead it's a sort of Reform School Western about a couple of wayward Chicago boys (Billy Cummings and Freddie Chapman) taken in by Ryder's indomitable aunt, "The Duchess" (Alice Fleming.) The boys escaped their very own "Fagin," Bull Reagan (Roy Barcroft), and were given a second chance on the lady's Western ranch. Unfortunately, Reagan returns to do a bit of cattle rustling, once again luring the boys into becoming his accomplices.

Colorado Pioneers

1945

Good Bad Boys poster
7.0

Alfalfa and the gang decide to turn to a life of crime, but Spanky tries to trick them with a fake burglary.

Good Bad Boys

1940

Melodies Old and New poster
7.3

The gang prevails upon old-time minstrel impresario Walter Wills to help them stage a fund-raising musical show.

Melodies Old and New

1942

Waldo's Last Stand poster
7.0

The gang offers to help their pal Waldo attract customers to his lemonade stand. Redecorating their clubhouse as a lavish nightclub, the kids stage an elaborate floor show, with Darla Hood as the star vocalist.

Waldo's Last Stand

1940

Fightin' Fools poster
6.6

While the Our Gang kids are enjoying the local swimming hole, a rival group ties all their clothes in knots. Our Gang challenges the meanies, and the two sides have a military-style battle using fruits and vegetables for ammunition.

Fightin' Fools

1941

Election Daze poster
6.6

Mickey and Froggy are candidates running to be president of the Gang's club. When the vote continues to end in a tie, the club winds up split. Buckwheat then reminds everyone of the lessons learned from Abraham Lincoln when America was once divided.

Election Daze

1943

Robot Wrecks poster
5.8

Spanky and the gang discover a demonstration of a "human-like" robot named Volto and are inspired to create a robot themselves to do their chores for them. Slicker Walburn convinces them they will need "invisible rays" to bring it to life which he just happens to have to sell to them. As they rush off to get their money, Slicker gets Boxcar Smith to wear the robot's outer body so when he "brings" the robot to life, it will be Boxcar bringing it to life. The gang unsuspectedly gets their robot to mow the lawn at Froggy's house, but with a signal from Slicker, Boxcar runs amok and mows down everything in his path. Froggy gets to explain what happened to his parents who bust up the fraud and get the miscreants to work with the gang to clean up the mess.

Robot Wrecks

1941

Tale of a Dog poster
6.5

When Bigshot Jones gives his unnamed dog to the All-For-One Club, Buckwheat quickly names the canine "Smallpox", inadvertently causing a city-wide panic.

Tale of a Dog

1944

Wedding Worries poster
6.3

The Our Gang kids worry that Darla's new stepmother will be an evil stepmother like of fairy tale fame.

Wedding Worries

1941

1-2-3-Go! poster
6.6

While playing baseball, Mickey runs into the street to catch a fly ball and is struck by a car. When the gang visit him in the hospital they are appalled to find the ward populated by many other children injured in automobile accidents. The Our Gang kids resolve to do something about the problem, and thus the "1-2-3-Go Safety Society" is born.

1-2-3-Go!

1941

Mighty Lak a Goat poster
6.5

The Our Gang gets splashed by mud from a passing car and so using some cleaning fluid to get rid of the mud; they unknowingly created a bad odour among themselves.

Mighty Lak a Goat

1942

No artwork available
7.0

To impress Darla, Alfalfa drinks a concoction of Butch's "dynamite" brew.

Bubbling Troubles

1940

Don't Lie poster
6.5

After Buckwheat tells the gang he's seen a big monkey, Spanky, Froggy and Mickey decide to teach him once and for all not to lie. What the gang doesn't know is that the monkey is real, and hilarity will ensue.

Don't Lie

1942

Whistling in Dixie poster
6.2

Radio sleuth Wally 'The Fox' Benton travels to Georgia with his fiancé Carol to be married; and to help Carol's college chum, Ellamae Downs, solve a mystery involving a murdered man, old Fort Dixon, and buried treasure.

Whistling in Dixie

1942

Mokey poster
6.7

A newlywed tries to deal with her troubled stepchild.

Mokey

1942

All About Hash poster
6.0

Mickey's parents are constantly quarreling because his mother serves hash every Monday night. The kids decide to put on a radio skit to try to get them to stop fighting.

All About Hash

1940

Alfalfa's Double poster
6.7

Our Gang member Alfalfa comes face to face with his wealthy lookalike Cornelius.

Alfalfa's Double

1940

No artwork available
6.2

Spanky and Alfalfa both try to impress the new girl at school, much to Darla's dismay.

The New Pupil

1940

Heavenly Music poster
6.2

Bandleader/singer/songwriter Ted Barry arrives to heaven. The receptionist tells him that before he can take his place in the Hall of Music, a committee must review his work and decide whether he is worthy of admittance.

Heavenly Music

1943

1930s · 36 titles

Sprucin' Up poster
6.8

A new truant officer moves into the neighborhood, and everybody wants to get friendly with his daughter.

Sprucin' Up

1935

Mama's Little Pirate poster
7.2

The gang goes after pirate treasure they believe is hidden in a cave.

Mama's Little Pirate

1934

Dad for a Day poster
6.7

The "Our Gang" kids encourage a shy man to take a widow and her son to a picnic.

Dad for a Day

1939

Our Gang Follies of 1936 poster
6.9

The gang puts on a show, everything goes well, except they're missing an act.

Our Gang Follies of 1936

1935

For Pete's Sake! poster
7.7

The kids try to raise money to buy a doll for Marianne.

For Pete's Sake!

1934

Alfalfa's Aunt poster
6.5

Alfalfa's weird aunt Penelope pays a visit. She's working on a murder mystery novel, but Alfalfa thinks she's trying to murder him. It's up to the Spanky and the gang to save him.

Alfalfa's Aunt

1939

Pay As You Exit poster
8.0

The "Our Gang" kids stage a production of "Romeo and Juliet," but the show is threatened when leading lady Darla walks out on star Alfalfa.

Pay As You Exit

1936

Our Gang Follies of 1938 poster
6.4

Alfalfa gives up being "King of the Crooners" to sing opera, but a nightmare of being under the thumb of an evil producer sends him back to his roots.

Our Gang Follies of 1938

1937

The First Round-Up poster
7.0

The gang packs up for a camping trip to Cherry Creek two miles from their home, but to them it is the wilderness. After night falls, the hooting owls and croaking frogs conjure up visions of spooks. When a thunderstorm hits, they all scurry for home.

The First Round-Up

1934

Rushin' Ballet poster
6.7

While trying to track down Butch, Spanky and Alfalfa get caught up in a dance recital.

Rushin' Ballet

1937

Shrimps for a Day poster
6.8

A magic lamp lets a young couple become kids again and exposes a mean old man who runs his orphanage like a prison.

Shrimps for a Day

1934

Anniversary Trouble poster
6.8

The gang's treasury is entrusted to Spanky, who accidentally gets it mixed up with his father's money.

Anniversary Trouble

1935

No artwork available
7.0

Alfalfa imagines himself being the star football player on a college team. After a big pep rally he ends up letting the team down when his poor grades cause him to be suspended from play.

Time Out for Lessons

1939

Three Men in a Tub poster
5.6

Alfalfa and the gang build their own "speedboat" powered by ducks, and challenge Waldo to a race for the hand of Darla.

Three Men in a Tub

1938

Captain Spanky's Show Boat poster
7.0

An abandoned old show boat is moored in a lazy creek. The Our Gang put the old vessel back to use when they stage a show featuring "Darla's Dancin' Dandies" and a "meller dramer" entitled "Out in the Snow You Go." All is not smooth sailing however, as Butch seeks revenge for having been excluded from the cast.

Captain Spanky's Show Boat

1939

Bored of Education poster
6.8

Spanky and Alfalfa fake a toothache to get out of school. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with UCLA Film & Television Archive in 2013.

Bored of Education

1936

Washee Ironee poster
6.8

Rich boy Waldo gets his clothes dirty playing football with the gang just before he has to go to his mother's society party. The gang tries to help him clean up.

Washee Ironee

1934

Two Too Young poster
7.0

Spanky and Alfalfa try to get Porky's and Buckwheat's fireworks.

Two Too Young

1936

Party Fever poster
6.8

Alfalfa, Butch and Waldo compete for Mayor For A Day. Whoever becomes Mayor gets to take Darla to the Strawberry Festival.

Party Fever

1938

Roamin' Holiday poster
7.2

The gang runs away from home, but meet up with a kindly old couple.

Roamin' Holiday

1937

Arbor Day poster
6.2

Truant officers mistake 2 midgets for members of the gang.

Arbor Day

1936

Hide and Shriek poster
6.9

Detective Alfalfa and his assistants Buckwheat and Porky try to solve a missing-candy case but find themselves in an amusement park haunted house.

Hide and Shriek

1938

The Lucky Corner poster
7.0

The gang help Scotty and his grandfather after an obnoxious lunch counter owner forces them to move their lemonade stand.

The Lucky Corner

1936

Night 'n' Gales poster
7.0

Because of a storm, the Gang has to stay overnight at Darla's house, and they drive her father crazy.

Night 'n' Gales

1937

General Spanky poster
5.8

Orphaned shoeshine boy Spanky is working on a Mississippi riverboat during the Civil War. There he befriends young runaway slave Buckwheat. After wronging a vicious gambler, Spanky and Buckwheat are forced to jump ship. Finding solace at a nearby house, the two are picked by Marshall Valiant for an important mission. This inspires Spanky to organize the local kids to form a small army of their own.

General Spanky

1936

Teacher's Beau poster
7.0

The gang tries to dissuade their teacher from getting married.

Teacher's Beau

1935

Fishy Tales poster
7.7

Alfalfa tries to back out of a fight by pretending to be incapacitated.

Fishy Tales

1937

The Pigskin Palooka poster
6.6

While Alfalfa was away at military school, his letters to his friends back home bragged about how he was a star football player. Now that he's back home, he has to prove it.

The Pigskin Palooka

1937

No artwork available
7.5

While under a hypnotic spell, Alfalfa thinks he's one of the Three Musketeers and challenges Butch to a duel.

Duel Personalities

1939

Spooky Hooky poster
6.4

The gang puts a phony absent note on their teacher's desk so they can go to the circus, then have to get it back when they find out that the class was going on a field trip to the circus anyway.

Spooky Hooky

1936

Beginner's Luck poster
6.9

Spanky's mother pushes him to join a local theater amateur night.

Beginner's Luck

1935

No artwork available
7.7

Alfalfa imagines himself as a western movie hero battling with Butch for Darla's heart.

The Little Ranger

1938

No artwork available
6.2

Spanky and Alfalfa want to do a show based on the "Aladdin's Lamp" story with Darla in the cast, but Darla doesn't want to participate.

Aladdin's Lantern

1938

Hearts Are Thumps poster
7.2

The gang promises to keep away from girls on St. Valentine's Day, but Alfalfa can't resist Darla.

Hearts Are Thumps

1937

Divot Diggers poster
6.3

When the caddies at the local golf course go on strike, the gang steps in to earn some money.

Divot Diggers

1936

Dog Daze poster
5.4

The Gang owes 37 cents to Butch, so they try to raise money by rounding up stray dogs for the reward, but nearly get busted for dognapping.

Dog Daze

1939

Series credits