George McFarland

She is not related to Spank. Personal tragedy struck O'Connor in 1995 when his only son Hugh committed suicide after a long battle with drug addiction. Note: Folk-rock singer Elaine McFarlane is known as "Spanky" from her tenure in the group Spanky and Our Gang, which was named in honor of the film troupe. In fact, he was once an English teacher before turning to acting. His brother Tommy, who was also named after their father (Thomas Emmett McFarland), passed away in 1982, and McFarland died of a heart attack on June 30, 1993 followed by his mother just 30 days later. Although O'Connor was famous for murdering the English language as Archie Bunker, it should be pointed out he was highly educated and cultured. Other biographies incorrectly report his middle name as being Emmett; however this was his father's middle name. Mister O'Connor also appeared on episodes of many popular television series such as Gunsmoke, I Spy, The Fugitive, The Wild Wild West.

His middle names came from family names, Robert after his father and Phillips was his mother's maiden name (George was his father's brother's name). O'Connor's many film roles include Lonely Are The Brave (1962), Cleopatra (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), Hawaii (1966), The Devil's Brigade (1968) and Kelly's Heroes (1970). In later years some in his family affectionately would refer to him as just "Spank". He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II and began his acting career shortly afterwards. In January 1994, "Spanky" became the only Our Gang member to receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. O'Connor was born in The Bronx, New York and he lived during much of his youth in the New York City borough of Queens, the same borough where his character Archie Bunker would later live. He played the role of an enterprising kid in the series and the de facto leader of the gang. The result was an absorbing, entertaining television show, which was based on the BBC show Til Death Us Do Part and its follow up, In Sickness and in Health with Archie Bunker based on Alf Garnett, but somewhat less abrasive.

He was discovered at the age of three and soon became a regular and then most popular member of the children's comedy movie series Our Gang during the 1930s and 1940s. The writing on the show was consistently left of center but O'Connor deftly used every chance he had to skewer the liberal pieties of the day. His nickname "Spanky" is said to have arisen from repeated warnings by his mother not to misbehave. O'Connor's own politics were left-wing, but he understood Archie Bunker, and played him not only with bombast and humor but with touches of vulnerability. Worth as many biographies report. O'Connor later starred in the television series In the Heat of the Night as Police Chief Bill Gillespie from 1988 to 1994. McFarland was born in Dallas, Texas on October 2, 1928 - not in Ft. John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1925 - June 21, 2001) was an American actor, famous for his portrayal of the character Archie Bunker in the television sitcoms All in the Family (1971-1979) and Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983).

George Robert Phillips McFarland (October 2, 1928 - June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for his childhood role as Spanky in the depression era children's comedy movie series Our Gang, also known as the Little Rascals.