
Joe Cobb
Acting
Biography
Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Cobb auditioned for producer Hal Roach's comedy series at the age of five. He appeared in 86 Our Gang episodes during seven years, and had three guest appearances in the serial in the 1930s. His first Our Gang short was The Big Show. Cobb appeared in the Our Gang series' last silent film, Saturday's Lesson, and its first talking short, Small Talk. He was a recognizable character, with chubby cheeks and a trademark beanie cap. Some sources indicate that his final film with the Gang was Bouncing Babies; however, he does not appear onscreen in that short. His last film as a regular cast member was the previous entry Lazy Days, but he would also return for cameos in three more shorts over the years: Fish Hooky, Pay as You Exit, and Reunion in Rhythm. After his acting career ended in the early 1940s, Cobb became an assembler for North American Aviation, a division of Rockwell International. He retired in 1981. Cobb died of natural causes on May 21, 2002.
Known For

The gang are all orphans, hoping to be adopted by nice families where "spinach is not on the menu". Wheezer, the youngest child, gets adopted by a wealthy couple, while his older sister Mary Ann does not. The gang all comes to visit Wheezer in his new home, setting off an alarm that causes the police and the fire department to come over. At that time, Wheezer's new mother and father decide to adopt Mary Ann as well. The couple's friends all each adopt a child as well; even Farina is adopted by the maid at Wheezer's new home.
Small Talk

Harold Meadows is a shy, stuttering bachelor working in a tailor shop, who is writing a guidebook, The Secret of Making Love, for other bashful young men. Fate has him meet rich girl Mary, and they fall in love. But she is about to wed an already married man, so our hero embarks upon a hair-raising daredevil ride to prevent the wedding.
Girl Shy

Farina and Joe fib to the gang that they've beaten up the neighborhood bully. Later, they hear he's been murdered and think they'll get the blame.
Telling Whoppers

The Rascals have a boxing arena that could pack them in if they could find fighters who would actually mix it up. Harry and Farina notice a rivalry between two very large young kids, Joe and Chubby, that would fill the bill if only the two heavyweights would put aside their gentle natures. Farina gets an idea: tell each of the lads that the other will take a dive in the second round. So the fight begins and the stands are filled; but will the combatants actually throw a punch? Ernie has one more trick up his sleeve to get the fists flying and the crowd on its feet. Sweet science indeed.
Boxing Gloves

Fast Company is the sixteenth short in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series created by Hal Roach. Many of the boys here want to go swimming but Mickey has to make a delivery. On the way, he encounters a rich boy waiting at a station for his mom and as they get to talking they trade places since Mickey has never seen the inside of a hotel and the rich kid just wants to play. When the rich kid returns to the gang with the goat-pulling wagon, however, they resolve to go where Mickey is which is where the fun really begins...
Fast Company

The kids are playing baseball when a man dressed in Middle-Eastern clothing comes out and tells them to be quiet. They join Mary, Farina, and Scooter in the gang's hide-out while Mary is reading ghost stories. While on the other side of the wall, the Arab-looking man is cheating people out of their money by staging a fake séance using state-of-the-art special effects. The cave entrance for the gang's hide-out collapses, so they light candles and dig into the wall, entering into the house. The "suckers" find out they are being cheated and run to get the cops to book the guys. The guys find out that the kids are in the house, and one dresses up in a ghost costume and chases the kids throughout the house.
Shivering Spooks

The kids in the tenements have no place to play except in streets where traffic is a hazard. Mickey gets the idea of building barricades to give our gang space to play at an intersection, but a beat cop, the nasty "Hard-Boiled" McManus, puts a quick end to that. A sympathetic constable and a detective who has kids of his own give our gang a chance to help law enforcement. The little rascals wear uniforms and keep an eye on things: Joe, for instance, eyes the bananas at Tony's fruit stand. When the now-fired McManus returns and seeks revenge, the junior police force and their adult colleagues are put to the test.
Official Officers

The kids from Our Gang have to attend a wedding, and they bring along their flea collection--which gets loose.
Thundering Fleas

At the start we learn that Farina is suffering nightmares each time he eats meat. His mom tells him to stay away from the stuff but he loves it so much he sneaks out of the house and ends up eating several chickens. That night she puts him to bed and sure enough he begins to have nightmares that the other kids are chasing him. Basing a kids comedy around one kid having nightmares and being stalked by other kids might seem rather bizarre but this was 1924 we're talking about.
Seein' Things

The circus is in town and for one day only. By pretending to be sick some of the gang members were able to play hooky from school so as to attend the festivities.
Circus Fever

This Hal Roach comedy short, Tire Trouble, is the twenty-second entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. In this one, Mickey drives his own makeshift car with Mary, Joe, and Jackie in tow. Among the unusual gadgets: a boxing glove attached to the outside front that knocks out any passersby! When they stop where Sunshine Sammy and Farina are standing, Sammy gets punched by that glove twice and also gets hit by the front grille that moves! He's making a delivery to a rich man named J. William McAllister. This man believes he's very sick because of what his doctor and wife says but after the gang come in uninvited, they look at him and think otherwise.
Tire Trouble

A hypnotist comes to town and puts the gang in animal-like trances. Now that the spell is off, the gang returns back to their usual roles. But then while at an afternoon tea social , the spell returned, ruining a perfectly good afternoon.
Heebee Jeebees

Fast Freight is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film. It was the 85th Our Gang short that was released. The gang takes a tramp's train ride and end up taking shelter in a haunter house.
Fast Freight

Your Own Back Yard is a 1925 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 43rd Our Gang short subject released. Farina is having a very bad day, especially by his friends-very cruel playing nasty tricks, etc. Heeding his mother's advice to stay "in your own back yard," he does just that, feeding jumping beans to his chickens.
Your Own Back Yard

Steve Allen hosts this collection of clips of some of the greatest comedy teams in movie and television history, including Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Burns and Allen, The Three Stooges, The East-Side Kids, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis.
Classic Comedy Teams

In this short the kids are managing their own barber shop, with harrowing results. No one gets hurt, but most of the customers wind up bald or close to it: one kid even gets a prematurely fashionable Mohawk! Scenes involving close calls with sharp scissors might make some viewers wince, while the manicurist uses a device that looks like a wire-cutter.
Big Business

While the other kids and animals find things to do on the farm, Farina becomes single-minded in his quest to do nothing at all.
Lazy Days

Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
Going Hollywood: The '30s

Wheezer gets excited watching his dog Pansy attack and rip apart the chickens and furniture in the back yard. His mother is upset, and his father takes his rifle to shoot the dog. Meanwhile, Joe Cobb has taught Pansy to play dead, and after the deed is done, he hides the dog at Farina's house.
Playin' Hookey

A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.