LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - DARLA HOOD

DARLA HOOD

From Wikipedia:

Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 - June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the "Our Gang series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma", the only child of James Claude Hood and Elizabeth Davner. Her father worked in a bank and her mother was a music teacher.

Hood then went out on her own with singing engagements in nightclubs and guest appearances on TV. She was a regular on 'The Ken Murray Show' from 1950 to 1951. In 1955, she was a leading lady in the act of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. She had a hit record in 1957, "I Just Wanna Be Free", and appeared in the movie "Calypso Heat Wave" (1957) singing a duet with Johnny Desmond. She also recorded two songs with the Ray Whitaker Orchestra, "Only Yours" and "Silent Island," for RayNote Records.

Hood was a guest on such TV shows of the early 1960s as 'Tell It to Groucho' and 'The Jack Benny Show', where she appeared on October 30, 1962 as "Darla" in a spoof of the Our Gang comedies with Jack Benny (who appeared as Alfalfa), and 'The Charlotte Peters Show' in St. Louis. She did singing and voice-over work on TV commercials, which included Campbell Soup and Chicken of the Sea tuna. She appeared in her own nightclub act at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, the Copacabana in New York, and the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

AS SEEN IN:

'The Screen Directors' Playhouse'

"It's A Most Unusual Day"

SYNOPSIS:

Darla was one of the singers in Jimmy McHugh's revue at the Mocambo's nightclub.  She sang "On The Sunny Side Of The Street".

O'BSERVATION:

Darla was listed as one of the vocalists in the credits, but was never acknowledged as playing herself.  But since Jimmy McHugh was appearing as himself, why not his singers?

BCnU!