Tommy Bond, who played the bully in 18 "Our Gang" comedies and later was the first screen Jimmy Olsen, has died at the age of 79. Tommy was five years old when he was discovered and cast in Hal Roach's kid gang comedies. He played a few small roles in the films in 1931, then was dropped from the cast. Later, he was brought back and cast as Butch, the little tough kid who was always looking for an opportunity to beat up Alfalfa or otherwise cause trouble. He outgrew the role but went on to do parts in other films, and even did some animation voice work. (He was the little owl in the Warner Brothers cartoon, I Love to Singa.)
Tommy worked a lot throughout the forties, including playing Olsen in two Columbia movie serials of Superman which starred Kirk Alyn as the Man of Steel — Superman (1948) and Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950). In 1951, he gave up acting for production work and behind-the-scene jobs, a decision which caused him to turn down the role of Jimmy Olsen on the Superman TV series. The part went instead to Jack Larsen.
In his later years, Tommy became a fixture at autograph shows and film societies where he happily signed photos and copies of his autobiography, Darn Right, It's Butch. I enjoyed talking with him about his career and hearing his observations on how the business had changed. Needless to say, he thought it had changed a lot. Here's a link to the Associated Press obit.