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Carl Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois in 1927. He would later become known as "Alfalfa", a character he played on the Hal Roach produced series of film shorts called Our Gang, known later in syndication as The Little Rascals. He died on January 21, 1959, the victim of a killer's bullet as he and another man argued over a lost hunting dog.
In 1935 Switzer was added to the already successful Our Gang comedy series when he was only seven years old. Although he appeared in nearly 75 of the comedy shorts over the next five years, he didn't receive a single dime from the show. At the time Our Gang was filmed, television was still in its infancy, and many considered it to be a temporary novelty. No one even considered the concept of royalties and syndication. As a result, everyone knew Switzer, but he never profited from his fame.
Switzer was the tall, skinny, freckle-faced kid with the uncontrollable cow-lick and the equally uncontrollable singing voice. One of Alfalfa's most memorable Our Gang performances was his spectacularly off-key rendition of I'm in the Mood for Love which appeared in the episode The Pitch Singer in 1936.
As he grew older, Switzer found himself in a series of odd jobs: tour guide, shoeshine boy, bartender, to name a few. But he still had to make a living while he stayed involved in Hollywood. After his Our Gang days ended in 1940, Switzer appeared (often uncredited) in small parts in nearly sixty films, including My Favorite Blonde (1942), The Human Comedy (1943), Going My Way (1944), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), State of the Union (1948), Pat and Mike (1952). Switzer even played a slave in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956).
Switzer had several run-ins with the law during the 1950s. He was once arrested for cutting down trees in Sequoia National Forest and, in 1958, he was shot and injured by an unknown assailant in front of a bar in the San Fernando Valley.
But by 1958, Switzer seemed to be back on the Hollywood fast track, having landed a plum comic relief role in Stanley Kramer's, The Defiant Ones. But until its release, he still needed to earn a living.
Between acting jobs, Switzer worked as a bartender, and because the pursuit never really worked out, he masterminded a part-time scheme as a bear hunting guide. His customers included, among others, Roy Rogers and Henry Fonda. Before one particular hunting expedition, Switzer borrowed a hunting dog from a friend, Moses "Bud" Stiltz. Unfortunately, the dog ran away during the hunting trip, urging Switzer to put out a $50 reward for its return. A few days later, a man found the dog, and brought it to the bar where Switzer worked. Switzer paid the man the fifty dollar reward and threw in $15 worth of free drinks. Several days later, after a night of drinking, Switzer concocted the booze-fueled idea that Stiltz (the owner of the dog) owed him the $50 he had spent to get the dog back.
On January 21, 1959, a drunken Switzer and his pal, Jack Piott headed over to Stiltz's home in Mission Hills to get his money. They banged on the front door. When the door opened, Switzer flashed a fake police badge and loudly yelled through the open door at Stiltz to let him in.
Once inside, Stiltz and Switzer became involved into a heated argument. Switzer informed Stiltz that he wanted the owner of the dog to pay him the 50 bucks he spent on reward money. Stiltz told him he was "crazy" and to get the hell out of his house at which point all massive holy hell apparently broke loose. Stiltz claims Switzer then hit him over the head with a large lamp (some say it was clock), causing Stiltz to retreat to his bedroom, battered and bleeding from a cut over the eye.
Stiltz emerged from the room with a pistol, which Switzer immediately grabbed out of Stiltz's hand. A shot was fired but neither man was hit. The gunshot caused Stiltz's fiancee and her three children (who were huddled with her in the bedroom) to flee to a neighbor's house. Switzer then forced Stiltz into a closet and shut the door. Even though Stiltz had gotten his hands on the gun, Switzer drew a hunting knife on Stiltz and yelled that he was going to kill him. He charged the man and Stiltz fired the gun. Swizter was hit in the abdomen. He died on the way to the hospital.
Note: During the trial it was revealed that the hunting knife was actually a jacknife and it was found under his body with no blade exposed by the crime scene investigators.
Carl was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park.