Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, who appeared in 61 "Our Gang" comedies, was born in Paris, Illinois, on August 7, 1927. His squeaky voice, out of control cowlick, and bug-eyed double takes captured the imaginations of moviegoers as few child stars have done before or since.

But this is Hollywood, and good things often come to an abrupt, even tragic end. Time, you will soon see, was never to be Carl's ally.

By 1942, when he left the series, Switzer's life began a slow, steady downward spiral. While his love interest in the pictures, Darla Hood, retired from the industry at age 14, Alfie (as his friends called him) continued to hang out on the fringes. It's not easy to be washed up before you're old enough to drive--or drink for that matter.

Unfortunately, Switzer spent a good deal of time drinking and brooding. It didn't help that the shows were brought to TV in the 1950's as the "Little Rascals," making millions for the studio and syndicator, but exactly zero for the former child stars. Who would have thought about television rights in 1935? Synchronicity problem number one.

Working as a bartender and hunting guide, he met Roy Rogers and Henry Fonda, who helped him get a few bit parts. By 1958, he landed a small supporting role in The Defiant Ones, a major pic starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier. A comeback seemed possible.

While waiting for the movie to be released, Alfie set up a hunting expedition, and borrowed a dog from a friend, Moses S. "Bud" Stiltz. The dog ran off, Switzer posted a $35.00 reward, and the dog was returned to the Studio City bar where he worked. Alfie bought the finder a few drinks--$15.00 worth.

As 1958 ended, Alfalfa became increasingly distraught. Besides being nearly broke, and possibly a druggie (he certainly looks drug-worn in Defiant Ones), his phone wasn't ringing off the hook with movie offers, even if Defiant Ones was critically acclaimed. Perhaps that is why his mind wasn't exactly clear when he decided that Stiltz somehow owed him $50.00. Stiltz' take on the situation was straightforward enough. Alfie lost the dog, and spent $50.00 recovering it. Tough luck.

Tough luck indeed. On the evening of January 21, 1959, Switzer and a friend, Jack Piott, forced their way into Stiltz' home.

"I want the fifty bucks you owe me and I want it now," shouted Alfie.

I don't owe you any fifty," screamed Stiltz. "You lost the dog, you pay." Alfie looked around the living room, and his eyes came to rest on a heavy clock under a glass dome. He grabbed the clock, and swung it at Stiltz. "I'm gonna take $50 out of your face," he screamed. The clock struck above Stiltz' right eye and blood gushed. The swollen eye began to close.

How ironic that time--now materialized as a clock--would play such a vital role in this off-screen drama.

Stiltz backed into the bedroom. Alfie followed. Stiltz opened the closet. He reached in and took out a .38 caliber revolver. Alfie grabbed for the gun. It went off, the bullet burying itself harmlessly in the wall.

Alfie shoved Stiltz into the closet and closed the door. He picked up the gun, laid it on the dresser and returned to the living room. "He's trying to kill me," he said to Piott, as he took a switchblade knife out of his pocket. He flicked it open.

He turned his head at the sound of Stiltz returning from the closet. He held the gun in his hand. Alfie brandished his blade. Stiltz fired a bullet that caught Alfie in the stomach. He died en route to the hospital, which brings us to synchronicity problem number two.

Ordinarily, the death of a former child star would have made big news, except that on that very night, Cecil B. DeMille, one of the greatest directors, also died. Carl Switzer couldn't even DIE at the right time!

Bud Stiltz was freed after a coroner's inquest ruled that the shooting was justifiable homicide.

Conspiracy theorists make much of the fact that Switzer's knife was found in a closed position, and could not have been much of a threat to Stiltz. Stiltz' explanation was that it fell on the floor, and closed up. Another factoid is that Alfie was shot the year before by an unknown assailant in front of a bar, and suffered a flesh wound. Could the two shootings have been related?

We'll never know, but it's not important. Alfalfa's fate was sealed the day he left "Our Gang." Although talented and cute enough as a child to charm three generations of audiences, he could never overcome accursed synchronicity, and an industry whose lack of heart is matched only by its surplus of money.