Jay R. Smith


Jay R. Smith was an American child actor and comedian who had a brief career appearing in 17 of the Our Gang film short series during the silent Pathé era between 1925 and 1931, where he was variously billed as "Freckles", "Pinky" and "Specs". This series was syndicated to television as "The Little Rascals".

Career

Smith's first film in the Our Gang series was Boys Will Be Joys in 1925. He replaced Mickey Daniels as the freckle-faced kid and continued until the silent era ended. He also appeared as himself in 45 Minutes From Hollywood.
Bowing to pressure from the studio, Smith appeared in the sixth Our Gang talkie titled Moan and Groan, Inc.. He was dissatisfied with his performance in the film and feared he would not have a successful career in talkies. He quit acting in 1929.

Family

Brother of Donnie Smith

Jay R. Smith was the older brother of actor and fellow Our Gang cast member Donnie Smith who was born as Donald R. Smith on September 12, 1924 and appeared in 4 films in the series including Fair and Muddy as the kid at the Orphanage, Boxing Gloves as Donnie, Little Mother as Beezer and Cat, Dog & Co. as Don, he is one of the last surviving child actors of Hollywood silent film.

Personal life

Smith was married to Mabel Florine Case, and they remained married until her death on February 1, 2002. After leaving acting, Smith, a native of Los Angeles, California, served in the US Army during World War II, before going into the retail paint business and moving to Kailua, Hawaii.

Murder

After retiring from the retail paint business in the early 1990s, Smith moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. In October 2002, then aged 87, he was reported missing by his daughter. After an extensive search, his body was found on October 5, 2002, in the desert near Las Vegas. He had been a victim of multiple stabbings. Charles Wayne Crombie, aged 52, a homeless man whom Smith reportedly befriended, was eventually convicted of the crimes as well as pawning belonging's of Mr. Smith including a television and VCR, fraudulently using his Visa debit card, and stealing his motor vehicle, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, which he was serving at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center where he died on July 17, 2014, in which was described only in press reports as a "chronic illness", aged 64.