IMDb gives Carl Dean Switzer (1927-59) 132 acting credits. Around half of these involved playing Alfalfa, a popular character in the Hal Roach Our Gang series. This led to him becoming better known by the nickname than his real name.
Switzer was almost a stereotype of the Hollywood child actor: a prolific childhood career followed by a few low-budget features and an early, violent death. He was shot in a dispute about a dog, having become a dog breeder and hunting guide.
Switzer is most often seen today in the seasonal revivals of White Christmas (1954). He is the brother, seen only in a photograph, of Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney.
Switzer was seen in two Metro musicals. Most memorably, he demonstrated his gift for terrible singing with a rendition of ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’ in Stage Mother. This was very much acting, as he apparently had a good singing voice. His other appearance was in The Ice Follies of 1939.
