Jack Hanlon, Former Child Actor Who Starred In ‘Our Gang,’ Dies At 96

Jack Hanlon, former child actor who starred in the 1926 silent film The General and twice in Our Gang, died last Thursday in Las Vegas, family members told the Associated Press Sunday. Hanlon was 96.

Halon was born February 15, 1916 in Fort Worth, Texas. Hanlon’s career in Hollywood began during the era of the silent film, but he stayed around to see the advent of the “talkie.” After his small role in The General and two appearances in Our Gang, Hanlon went on to play a role in the 1929 film The Shakedown, directed by William Wyler.

Hanlon went on to star in eight talkies including 1930s film Big Money along with Clark Gable. At the age of 16, Hanlon decided to move on from acting.

“He was absolutely the sweetest, most charming man,” Wendy Putnam Park, Halon’s niece, told the Associated Press. “He loved talking about being in the movies if you brought the subject up. He loved sharing stories about being in them.”

After his acting career was put behind him, Hanlon went on to graduate from a high school in Southern California, and the former child actor served as an Army Air Corps paratrooper during World War II. Later in his life, Hanlon worked as a mover for Allied Van Lines.

“Jack led a full life,” Bob Satterfield, a friend of Hanlon’s, told the Las Vegas Sun. “I brought him copies of his Our Gang films and “The General,” and we watched them in his home. He told me, it was ‘like watching someone else because it was a lifetime ago.”