   william "billie" thomas, jr. (march 12, 1931 &ndash; october 10, 1980) was an american child actor best remembered for portraying the character of buckwheat in the our gang (little rascals) short films from 1934 until the series' end in 1944. he was a native of los angeles, california. ==our gang== although the character he played was often the subject of controversy in later years for containing elements of the "pickaninny" stereotype, thomas always defended his work in the series, pointing out that buckwheat and the rest of the black our gang kids were treated as equals to the white kids in the series. billie thomas first appeared in the 1934 our gang shorts for pete's sake!, the first round-up, and washee ironee as a background player. the "buckwheat" character was a female at this time, portrayed by our gang kid matthew "stymie" beard's younger sister carlena in for pete's sake!, and by willie mae walton in three other shorts. thomas began appearing as "buckwheat" with 1935's mama's little pirate. despite thomas being a male, the buckwheat character remained a female&mdash;dressed as a topsy-esque image of the african-american "pickaninny" stereotype with bowed pigtails, a large hand-me-down sweater and oversized boots. after stymie's departure from the series later in 1935, the buckwheat character slowly morphed into a boy, first referred to definitively as a "he" in 1936's the pinch singer. this is similar to the initial handling of another african-american our gang member, allen "farina" hoskins, who worked in the series during the silent and early sound eras. despite the change in the buckwheat character's gender, billie thomas's androgynous costuming was not changed until his appearance as a runaway slave in the 1936 our gang feature film general spanky. this new costumingâoveralls, striped shirt, oversized shoes, and a large unkempt afroâwas retained for the series proper from late 1936's pay as you exit on. thomas remained in our gang
1931_births 1980_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors African-American_male_actors American_male_child_actors Burials_at_Inglewood_Park_Cemetery Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Male_actors_from_Los_Angeles,_California Our_Gang