Johnny Downs, 81; ‘Our Gang,’ Musical Comedy Actor

Johnny Downs, the all-American boy of 23 silent “Our Gang” comedies who grew up to be a successful song and dance man, has died. He was 81.

Downs, who more recently appeared on children’s television in San Diego, died June 6 of cancer at his Coronado home.

The “Our Gang” film series was launched in 1922 by the legendary Hal Roach and continued until 1944. One hundred of the 221 short films were later broadcast on television as “The Little Rascals.” Downs’ appearance in the films began with “The Champeen” in 1923 and ended as he outgrew the role with “Chicken Feed” in 1927.

“It was a memorable experience,” he once said about the “Our Gang” films. “I think we had a privileged childhood working in those films. It was great fun, and certainly had no ill effects on my life.”

Never leaving show business, Downs waited out his “awkward” teen years by performing vaudeville song and dance acts with “Our Gang” colleague Mary Kornman. He also won juvenile roles in two Broadway shows, “Growing Pains” and “Strike Me Pink” starring Jimmy Durante.

Returning to Hollywood, the older and still good-looking Downs was cast in a string of lightweight campus musicals. Among them were “Pigskin Parade,” “College Holiday,” “Junior Prom,” “Turn Off the Moon,” “Hold That Co-ed,” “Hawaiian Nights,” “Melody and Moonlight” and “Harvest Rhythm.”

The typecast Downs watched his popularity fizzle as World War II approached.

“I was the college-boy type,” he once said. “A war was shaping up and producers and the public suddenly wanted its heroes to act and look more like Bogart and Cagney.”

Downs was shut out of films for a decade, returning to Broadway for one hit, “Are You With It,” and then working in summer stock.

When lighter musical comedy films regained popularity in the 1950s, Downs was again in demand. He landed roles in “Here Come the Girls,” “Call Me Madam,” “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Cruisin’ Down the River” and “The Caddy.”

Downs spent his last working years as host of television shows aimed at children in the San Diego area, where he had grown up. On one show, he played Johnny Jet, greeting young viewers with “Howdy, howdy, howdy, guys and gals.”

Downs is survived by his wife, June, and five children: Mary of Springfield, Mo.; Claudia of Newport Beach; John and Molly, both of Coronado, and Maureen of Encinitas.