Jay R. Smith(1915-2002)
- Actor
Jay R. Smith was the second freckled-faced youngster to be featured in
producer Hal Roach's successful film series, "Our Gang" (later known on
television as "The Little Rascals".) His first "Our Gang" film was
_Boys Will be Joys(1925)_ in a small role. Smith was put into the
series as a sort-of replacement for Mickey Daniels, the original
freckle-faced kid in the gang; Daniels was outgrowing his youthful
role. While never a "star" in the Gang, Smith continued in the series
for the next four years. He made his last Gang appearance in the early
talkie _Moan & Groan, Inc.(1929)_ as a boy who gets a police officer
trapped in Japanese handcuff toy. As an adult, Smith got into the
retail paint business and attended movie conventions, offering his
signature. On October 5, 2002, Smith's body was found 25 miles north of
Las Vegas, Nevada, having died from multiple stab wounds. Charles
"Wayne" Crombie, a homeless man who Smith had reportedly befriended,
was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to two consecutive life
terms in prison.
