Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer
Biography
Carl Switzer was an American actor and comic singer who started performing as a child in 1934 and became a popular fixture of the Our Gang short comedies, where he played Alfalfa and sang off-key for laughs. Once he left that series in 1940, he had trouble landing major parts and was often cast as a juvenile performer, later taking mostly small roles and B movies. His first post-Our Gang film was I Love You Again (1940), and he went on to appear in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Pat and Mike (1952). In the 1950s he worked in television, including six episodes of The Roy Rogers Show, and his final movie part came in The Defiant Ones (1958). He also earned a living as a dog breeder and hunting guide.
31years old at death
- Born Paris
- Died Mission Hills
- Star sign: LeoThe sign runs July 23 to August 22
- Also credited as Carl Switzer and Carl Dean Switzer
Movie Career
- Films
- 9
- Career span
- 18 years1940 to 1958
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Getting ready for a role
The musical accompaniment was played a little past the young singer's range, so Switzer struggled to hit the high notes, which produced squeaky, off-key tones.
A first
Switzer played a white-haired Native American in Track of the Cat, a part that impressed him because it was his first adult character role.
A change of course
Switzer had begun to play down his Our Gang past. On his 1946 resumé, he listed those films generically as "M-G-M short product" instead of naming them.
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer shares two films with Elizabeth Taylor, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Elizabeth Taylor's page
Bess Flowers's page
Irving Bacon's page
Robert Mitchum's page
Kathleen Freeman's page
Lon Chaney Jr.'s page
Stanley KramerDirector, 1 film, 1958
All films by Stanley Kramer
All films by Fritz Lang
W.S. Van DykeDirector, 1 film, 1940
All films by W.S. Van Dyke
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.