Bobby Hutchins

Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins


imagesize = 200px
caption = Hutchins as "Wheezer" in "School's Out"
birthdate = birth date|1925|3|29|mf=y
location = Tacoma, Washington U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1945|5|17|1925|3|29|mf=y
deathplace = Merced, California U.S.
occupation = Film actor
yearsactive = 1927-1933
birthname = Robert E. Hutchins
othername =
homepage =
academyawards =

Bobby Hutchins (Robert E. Hutchins) (March 29, 1925 - May 17, 1945) was an American child actor who was a regular in the "Our Gang" short subjects series from 1926 to 1933. A native of Tacoma, Washington, he was given the nickname of Wheezer after running around the studios on his first day so much that he began to wheeze.

Biography

Other members of the "Our Gang" troupe remember very little about Hutchins. Jackie Cooper said "You’d go to play with Wheezer and his father would pull him away. Very competitive. I didn't get a satisfactory answer from my mother or grandmother as to why, but he was to be left alone. I guess his father was going to make him a star, or something. Obviously, it never happened like it did for Spanky or some of the other kids." [Cooper, Jackie (1982). "Please Don't Shoot My Dog: The Autobiography of Jackie Cooper". New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-425-07483-8] Other cast members reported that Hutchins was abused by his parents off the set to keep him from outgrowing his role—an occupational hazard in the "Our Gang" series.Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang", p. 253. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9]

After outgrowing the series, Wheezer and his family eventually moved back to Tacoma, where he entered public school. He joined the U.S. Army in 1943 after graduating high school, served in World War II, and in 1945 enrolled to become an air cadet.

Hutchins was killed in a plane crash on May 17, 1945, while trying to land a B-26 Marauder in the Merced Army Air Corps Field in Merced, California, during a training exercise. Hutchins' mother, Olga Hagerson, was to travel to the airfield for his graduation from flying school the week after he died.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0404257|name=Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins
*amg name|2:34152

Persondata
NAME= Hutchins, Bobby "Wheezer"
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Hutchins, Robert E.
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1925-3-29
PLACE OF BIRTH= Tacoma, Washington U.S.
DATE OF DEATH= 1945-5-17
PLACE OF DEATH= Merced, California U.S.