Matthew "Stymie" Beard

Matthew Beard, Jr. (January 1, 1925 - January 8, 1981) was an African-American child actor, most famous for portraying the character of Stymie in the Our Gang short films from 1930 to 1935. In contrast to the character he replaced, Farina, Stymie was a slick-tongued con-artist who was always self-assured, nonchalant, and ready with a sly comment. The character's trademark was a bald head crowned by an oversize derby hat, a gift to Matthew Beard from fellow Hal Roach comedian Stan Laurel.

Our Gang Years

The name "Stymie" was provided by Our Gang director Robert McGowan, who was always frustrated ("stymied") by little Matthew's curious wanderings around the studio; the character was originally to be named "Hercules". McGowan would later recall that Stymie was his favorite of all the Our Gang kids. Stymie remained in the series during the transition from the silent/early talkie era Our Gang to the more familiar group of Spanky, Alfalfa, and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, who would replace him in 1935.

Stymie's paycheck was used to help support his East Los Angeles family, including his 13 brothers and sisters. After Stymie renamed his younger brother Bobbie "Cotton" (which was also used as Bobbie's Our Gang character name), his parents allowed him to name all of the rest of his siblings as they were born. He named one "Dickie" after his best friend, child actor and Our Ganger Dickie Moore. Four other members of the Beard family would appear in the Our Gang comedies::

• his younger sister Betty Jane Beard preceded Stymie in the gang, playing Farina's little brother Hector in Moan & Groan, Inc. (1929) and When the Wind Blows (1930) (even though she was a girl).
• his younger sister Carlena Beard appeared as Stymie's younger sister in Shiver My Timbers (1931) and For Pete's Sake! (1934). In For Pete's Sake!, her character was called "Buckwheat", a role which would eventually be converted to a male character and given to Billie Thomas.
• his younger brother Robert "Bobbie" Beard appeared in six Our Gang shorts from 1932 to 1934 as Stymie's younger brother, "Cotton."
• his mother, Johnnie Mae Beard, has a cameo as Stymie's mother in Free Wheeling (1932). She was the only other Beard family member besides Stymie to have a speaking part in the Our Gang series.

Stymie's younger brother Renee Beard would appear in Hal Roach's Our Gang remakes of the 1940s: Curley and Who Killed Doc Robbin.

After the Gang

After Stymie left the series in 1935 at the age of ten, he went on to score some minor roles in feature films. By the time he was in high school, he had retired from acting. Falling into drug use and street life, Stymie became addicted to heroin, and spent most of his early adult life in and out of jail because of it. In the 1960s, he checked himself into Synanon, a drug rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles, and got himself cleaned up. After leaving Synanon, he made a small comeback, appearing in small roles in feature films and episodes of television shows such as Sanford & Son. He also traveled around the country, giving lectures on drug abuse awareness.

He died of pneumonia on January 8, 1981 in Los Angeles, California.