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Jerry Tucker
Tucker in Captain January (1936)
Born	Jerome Harold Schatz (1925-11-01)November 1, 1925 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	November 23, 2016(2016-11-23) (aged 91) Stony Brook, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1931–1992
Spouse	Myra K. Heino (1944–2012; her death)

Jerry Tucker (November 1, 1925 – November 23, 2016) was an American child actor, most notable for having played the "rich kid" in the Our Gang short subjects series semi-regularly from 1931 to 1938.

Life and career

Tucker was born Jerome Harold Schatz in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Ruth (Keno) and Leonard Schatz. His German Jewish surname was changed to "Tucker" for his acting career. Tucker first appeared in the 1931 Our Gang short Shiver My Timbers. He appeared in seventeen Our Gang comedies through 1938's Three Men in a Tub.

In addition to his Our Gang appearances, Tucker appeared in the Marie Dressler film Prosperity, again as a spoiled rich kid. He also appeared as one of Mother Peep's children in the Laurel & Hardy feature film Babes in Toyland (1934). He also appeared with Shirley Temple in Captain January in 1936, playing the "know-it-all" boy who forgets his answers on the test. On radio, Tucker played "the juvenile lead" on Jones and I, which was broadcast on CBS in the early 1940s and Roy Barry on the soap opera Hilltop House.

Tucker went on to serve in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He served aboard the USS Sigsbee. During World War II, he sustained an injury that caused him to limp, when his ship was hit by a Japanese kamikaze. Afterwards he married Myra K. Heino and had a successful career as an electrical engineer with RCA before retiring. His wife died in August 2012.

Tucker died on November 23, 2016, of natural causes at Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook, New York. He was 91.

Filmography

Radio

References

1. "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
2. "The Jerry (Tucker) Schatz Collection". Archived from the original on October 5, 1999.
3. "Reflections of a Little Rascal". Newsday. February 21, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
4. Lesser, Jerry (January 3, 1942). "Radio Talent: New York" (PDF). Billboard. p. 9. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
5. "Thursday's Highlights" (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. 14 (6): 48. October 1940. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
6. "Jerry Schatz, child actor in 'Our Gang' comedies, dies at 91". Newsday. November 24, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

External links

• Jerry Tucker at IMDb
• Jerry Tucker at the TCM Movie Database
• Jerry Tucker at AllMovie
• Jerry "Tucker" Shatz Papers. University of Maryland.
• Prosperity (1932) Archived April 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Jerry played the part of Buster.

• 1925 births
• 2016 deaths
• Male actors from Chicago
• American male child actors
• American male film actors
• American male radio actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• United States Navy personnel of World War II
• United States Navy personnel of the Korean War
• American electrical engineers
• Hal Roach Studios actors
• Our Gang
• Engineers from Illinois
• Jewish American male actors
• 21st-century American Jews