Matthew "Stymie" Beard
Matthew "Stymie" Beard
The son of a Los Angeles minister, three-year-old Matthew Beard won out of 350 kids to replace Allen "Farina" Hoskins as the resident black child in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies. Nicknamed Hercules in his first two-reeler, Teacher's Pet (1930), Beard was thereafter known as Stymie because of his innocent offscreen habit of confounding his elders. Wearing an oversized derby hat (borrowed from Roach comedian Stan Laurel), the clever, resourceful, eternally grinning Stymie quickly became one of the most popular Our Gang kids. After appearing in 36 Our Gang shorts, Beard began freelancing in 1935, playing small roles in big films like Captain Blood (1935), Jezebel (1938), The Great Man Votes (1939), and Stormy Weather (1943). Alas, after dropping out of high school in 1945, he fell into a bad crowd, spending the next two decades in and out of jails for committing crimes to feed his drug habit. Miraculously, Beard completely turned his life around in the mid-'60s when he entered the drug rehab organization Synanon. Looking remarkably like the eternally optimistic Stymie of old, Matthew Beard made a successful show business comeback in the 1970s, appearing in such films as The Buddy Holly Story (1978) and such weekly TV series as Good Times and The Jeffersons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Matthew "Stymie" Beard:
- Backstairs at the White House with Leslie Uggams , Olivia Cole , Louis Jr. Gossett , Robert Hooks , Leslie Nielsen , Cloris Leachman , Paul Winfield , Julie Harris , Victor Buono , Robert Vaughn , Kim Hunter , Claire Bloom , Celeste Holm , George Kennedy , Ed Flanders , Lee Grant , Larry Gates , Jan Sterling , Eileen Heckart , John Anderson , Harry Morgan , Estelle Parsons , Barbara Barrie , Andrew Duggan , Kevin Hooks , Tania Johnson , Hari Rhodes , Bill Overton , Helena Carroll , David Downing , James A. Jr. Watson , Dana Wynter , John Randolph , Barry Sullivan , Ford Rainey , Diane Shalet , Kathleen Doyle , Harrison Page , Tom Clancy , Woodrow Parfrey , Richard Roat , Louise Latham , James Crittenden , Bibi Besch , Margaret Wakeley , Nancy Morgan , Heather Angel , Emmaline Henry , Brendan Dillon , Harry Townes , Noble Willingham , Bill Quinn
- Fallen Angel with Alice Faye , Dana Andrews , Linda Darnell , Charles Bickford , Anne Revere , Bruce Cabot , John Carradine , Percy Kilbride , Olin Howland , Hal Taliaferro , Mira McKinney , Gus Glassmire , Jimmy Conlin , Leila McIntyre , Garry Owen , Horace Murphy , Martha Wentworth , Paul Palmer , Paul E. Burns , Herbert Ashley , Chick Collins , William Haade , Dorothy Adams , Harry Strang , Max Wagner , John Farrell MacDonald , Wally Wales , Betty Boyd , Dave Morris
- Truck Turner with Annazette Chase , Scatman Crothers , Isaac Hayes , Henry Kingi , Yaphet Kotto , Sam Laws , Earl Maynard , Don McGowan , Dick Miller , Nichelle Nichols , Mel Novak , Edna Richardson , Stan Shaw , Esther Sutherland , Don Watters , Alan Weeks , John Kramer , Lisa Farringer , Clarence A. Barnes , Larry Gabriel , Eddie Smith , Robert Harris , Paul Harris , Annik Borel , Jac Emil , Donnie Williams
- The Return of Frank James with Henry Fonda , Henry Fonda , Gene Tierney , Jackie Cooper , John Carradine , Henry Hull , J. Edward Bromberg , Donald Meek , Eddie Collins , George Barbier , Ernest Whitman , Charles Tannen , Lloyd Corrigan , Russell Hicks , Victor Kilian , Edward McWade , George Chandler , Irving Bacon , Frank Shannon , Barbara Pepper , Louis Mason , William Pawley , Frank Sully , Davison Clark , Arthur Byron , Kernan Cripps , Lester Dorr , Edmund Elton , Budd Fine , Almeda Fowler , Sherry Hall , Milton Kibbee , Kermit Maynard , Robert McKenzie , Lew Meehan , Frank Melton , Adrian Morris , James C. Morton , Hattie Noel , Lee Phelps , Russell Powell , Dale vanSickel , Lillian Yarbo , Bob Battier
- Kid Millions with Eddie Cantor , Stanley Fields , Ann Sothern , Doris Davenport , Ethel Merman , Otto Hoffman , George Murphy , Paul Harvey , Eve Sully , Jesse Block , Warren B. Hymer , Berton Churchill , Wally Albright , Lucille Ball , Bonnie Bannon , Tommy Bond , Harry C. Bradley , Mary Jane Carey , Louise Carver , Lynne Carver , Steve Clemente , John Collum , Lalo Encinas , Harry Ernest , Helen Ferguson , Budd Fine , Harrison Greene , Sam Hayes , Carmencita Johnson , Noble Johnson , Tor Johnson , Bobby Jordan , Edgar Kennedy , Jack Kennedy , Leonard Kibrick , Henry Kolker , Robert F. Kortman , Ivan Linow , Theodore Lorch , Art Mix , Edward Mortimer , Clarence Muse , Nicholas Brothers , Edward Sr. Peil , Barbara Pepper , George Regas , Mickey Rentschler , Constantine Romanoff , Billy Seay , Guy Usher , Malcolm Waite , Fred Warren , Zack Williams , Leo Willis , Helen Wood , William Arnold , Everett Brown , Jane Hamilton , John Kelly , Irene Bentley , Larry Fisher , Lon Poff , Caryl Lincoln , Wanda Perry , Bob Reeves , Eddie Arden , Mary Lou Dix , Gail Goodson , Silver Harr , Mary Lange , Gwen Seager , Jacqueline Taylor , Charlie Hall , Robert Ellis
- Jezebel with Bette Davis , Henry Fonda , George Brent , Margaret Lindsay , Donald Crisp , Fay Bainter , Richard Cromwell , Henry O'Neill , Spring Byington , John Litel , Gordon Oliver , Janet Shaw , Theresa Harris , Margaret Early , Irving Pichel , Lou Payton , Eddie "Rochester" Anderson , Trevor Bardette , Al Bridge , Frederick Burton , Georgia Caine , Davison Clark , Ann Codee , Frank Darien , Jesse Graves , John Harron , Philip Hurlic , Sam McDaniel , Edward McWade , Louis Mercier , Charles B. Middleton , Tony Paton , Georges Renavent , Charles Wagenheim , George Guhl , Maurice Brierre , Daisy Bufford , Jack George , Jacques Vanaire , Suzanne Dulier , Fred Lawrence
- Dead Reckoning with Humphrey Bogart , Lizabeth Scott , Morris Carnovsky , William Prince , Charles Cane , George Chandler , Ruby Dandridge , Wallace Ford , Marvin Miller , William Forrest , James Bell , John Bohn , Lillian Bronson , Chester Clute , Joseph Crehan , Sayre Dearing , Dudley Dickerson , George Eldredge , Matty Fain , Byron K. Foulger , Joe Gilbert , Dick Gordon , Wilton Graff , Jesse Graves , Chuck Hamilton , Alvin Hammer , Maynard Holmes , Charles Jordan , Pat Lane , William E. Lawrence , Garry Owen , Sid Saylor , Grady Sutton , Ray Teal , Frank Wilcox , Isabel Withers , Harry Denny , Sam Finn , Richard Gordon , Jack Santoro , Kay Garrett , Hugh Hooker , Bob Ryan , Lillian Wells , Tom Dillon , Robert Scott , Paul Bradley
Matthew "Stymie" Beard Trivia
When was Matthew "Stymie" Beard born?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard date of birth: January 1, 1927
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in Fallen Angel?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Shoe Shine Boy in Fallen Angel
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in Way Down South?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Gumbo in Way Down South
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard portray in Truck Turner?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Jail Guard in Truck Turner
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in The Return of Frank James?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Mose, the Bellboy in The Return of Frank James
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in Kid Millions?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Stymie in Kid Millions
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard portray in Jezebel?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Ti Bat in Jezebel
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in Dead Reckoning?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Bellboy in Dead Reckoning
Who did Matthew "Stymie" Beard play in The Buddy Holly Story?
Matthew "Stymie" Beard was Luther in The Buddy Holly Story
