Authorities in Las Vegas are reporting that an 87-year-old man found stabbed to death in the desert has been identified as Jay R. Smith, a child actor in the old "Our Gang" comedies. Some of the reports identify him as having played the character of "Freckles," which has prompted some e-mail inquiries to this site. Just a few months ago, in this item, we discussed a gent who fraudulently claimed to have played "Freckles" in those films…a character who never existed. Jay R. Smith was, indeed, an actor in 36 "Our Gang" shorts from 1925 until just after they began making talking pictures in 1929.
He had very little to do in most of these films and was not a major player but, yes, he was a cast member. The possible confusion here is that, though the kid had a lot of freckles, he didn't play a character named Freckles. (Lots of Our Gangers had freckles. Smith was more or less brought in to replace Mickey Daniels, who had just as many. In the above photo, Mickey's the tall kid at left behind Fat Joe Cobb and Jay R. Smith is the kid at far right.)
Sad to hear of his death. We are fast approaching the day when there won't be one single human being alive who ever appeared in silent pictures.