The Little Rascals: Buckwheat initially was a girl

Buckwheat: In the beginning he was a girl

When most people today think of the character Buckwheat, they probably recall Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live. Murphy was mimicking Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, AKA William Thomas Jr. . (March 12, 1931 – October 10, 1980). Thomas was an American child actor who is best remembered for portraying the little boy Buckwheat in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) short films from 1934 until 1944 when the series ended.

What may not be widely known is that if you pay close attention to the clothing that Thomas wore, Buckwheat was being portrayed as a girl, and prior to Thomas taking on the character, there were two females who preceded him as Buckwheat. Carlena Beard the younger sister of Matthew Stymie Beard and Willie Mae Taylor each were called Buckwheat in the early films. Sometimes, they were referred to as Stymie's little sister Marmalade.

Our Gang ended in 1938

These short films were popular and those of my grandmother's generation loved them. Today there is controversy and Buckwheat and Stymie are seen as racist images. I have been looking past that to the sheer genius of these children whose comedic timing was impeccable, The way they played together and the manner in which the dogs were just like family reminded me of my own childhood days.

Our Gang began with silent films in 1922 and the name was changed from to The Little Rascals, in 1928 due to being sold to MGM. The cast of characters at that time remained the same until they aged out. All three young actors who portrayed Buckwheat were dark complexioned with big round eyes. All three would widen their eyes and give big toothy grins at certain points in the film shorts. This was obviously taught to them by those who produced Our Gang and The Little Rascals and part of why the popular series is considered by some to be perpetuating racial stereotypes.

When you pay close attention you will find that all the adults come across as baffoons and the children get the best of them every time. Each of the young characters has exaggerated mannerisms all of their own. Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer sang in a squeaky voice, had freckles and his hair stood up straight in the air. George "Spanky" McFarland was a chubby serious-minded child who was the youngest of the main characters and always getting into trouble with his parents.

Eugene Gordon Lee had the nickname "porky" because he was the largest of the children. He originated the phrase "O Tay" for Okay. There were constant jokes related to his size. Darla Hood the other female regular was portrayed as spoiled and playing hard to get when Alfalfa declared his love for her. The depiction of Darla is quite a contrast to that of Marmalade/Buckwheat.

The Beard siblings worked to support their family and had an older brother named Robert "Bobbie" Beard who appeared briefly in the films as Stymie's older brother "Cotton." Carlena was born on March 19, 1929 and began acting at an early age. She was in the movies Shiver My Timbers (1931), Readin' and Writin' (1932) and Birthday Blues (1932). Not much is known about her later life but she died on February 23, 1972 at the age of 42.

Willie Mae Taylor was born on October 3, 1932 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. She began acting at a young age in Honky Donkey and The First Round-Up both in 1934. She passed away at age 54 on September 1, 1987. There is no record of Taylor or Beard working in films in their adult lives. The time these women spent on Our Gang/The Little Rascals will always be fondly remembered by their fans.