Eugene "Porky" Lee
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| Eugene Gordon "Porky" Lee | |
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| Born | October 25, 1933 Fort Worth, Texas |
| Died | October 16, 2005 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Eugene Gordon Lee (October 25, 1933–October 16, 2005) was a former American child actor, most notable for appearing in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedies as Porky from 1935 to 1939. During his tenure in Our Gang, Porky, not Buckwheat as commonly believed, originated the catchphrase "O-tay!" He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, USA as simply "Eugene Lee", and was adopted.
Lee got his break in motion pictures in 1935, after producer Hal Roach noted how much the eighteen-month-old toddler looked like Our Gang star Spanky McFarland, also from Texas. The Lee family traveled from Texas to Culver City, California, and Eugene Lee, nicknamed "Porky" by the studio, joined the cast as Spanky's little brother. Porky appeared in forty-two Our Gang comedies over four years. Lee, McFarland, and Our Gang co-stars Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, and Darla Hood constituted what is today the most familiar incarnation of Our Gang.
This group moved from Hal Roach Studios to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938 after Roach sold the series. When Lee grew several inches during early 1939 (to the point that the five-year-old was the same height as ten-year-old McFarland), MGM replaced him with Mickey Gubitosi, later better known by the stage name of Robert Blake.
After leaving the series, Lee retired from motion pictures, and entered public school. As an adult, he became an alternative school educator in Colorado. Lee changed his name and began going by Gordon Lee (naming himself after his favorite Our Gang director, Gordon Douglas) to avoid any correlation with his former acting career.
After retiring, Lee moved to Minnesota to be closer to his son Douglas. In the early 1980s, Lee began appearing at Little Rascals reunions and began a business selling "Porky"-related merchandise. In 2005, after battling lung and brain cancer, Lee passed away at the age of 71.
