He Wasn’t Buckwheat, ‘20-20’ Acknowledges

‘It was a real foul-up in research,” a spokeswoman for “20/20” acknowledged Monday, referring to the ABC program’s story last Friday about a grocery clerk in Tempe, Ariz., who it said used to star as Buckwheat in the “Our Gang” comedies.

The actor who actually played the role, William Thomas, died in 1980.

“20/20” spokeswoman Maurie Pearl said that the magazine show had undertaken the segment after receiving a letter from a viewer who said that the man who had played Buckwheat in the films of the 1930s and ‘40s was living in Tempe. The man interviewed was named Bill English; he told “20/20” that he had changed his last name from Thomas.

The network is looking into the matter and is likely to apologize when “20/20” airs Friday, Pearl said. Whatever disciplinary action is taken will be handled internally, she said.