of The Little Rascals, Downs entertained and informed studio audiences and viewers. Later, it was trains, and he was shown getting off or on a locomotive at the show's beginning and end. As the show changed to feature more Popeye cartoons, his theme changed from being a train engineer to being a boat captain at the San Diego harbor. Since one of the show's sponsors was Golden Arrow Dairy, Downs was regularly featured as a superimposed miniature dancer on top of an old-style milk bottle. Children were welcome to come to the KOGO studio and watch the program being broadcast. When each show concluded, Downs would wave to the viewing room and the visitors would go into the studio. He would let kids put on his coat and cap and mimic his opening "Howdy, howdy, howdy! Good to see ya! Good to see ya!" There was briefly a morning show where he invited students to come and compete in math quizzes. During this time he appeared as the Tin Woodsman in the San Diego Starlight Opera production of The Wizard Of Oz. Theater According to Carleton Carpenter's autobiography, Downs worked as a choreographer in the theater in the late 1950s on a production called Lock Up Your Daughters. He "did our dances, and they were really foolish. It wasn't choreography; I don't know what it was. I do know it wasn't good, and it became a great source of amusement for all the company-- behind Johnny's back, of course, but we were about a subtle as a bus wreck. It bonded the cast completely together." Death Downs died of cancer on June 6, 1994, age 80 in Coronado, California. Downs and wife June had five children: Mary, Claudia, John Jr., Mollie and Maureen. Partial filmography Circus Fever (1925, Short) - Johnny Dog Days (1925, Short) - Rich Kid The Love Bug (1925, Short) - Johnny Ask Grandma (1925, Short) - Johnnie Thundering Fleas (1926, Short) - Johnny 45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926, Short) - Himself (archive footage) (uncredited) Seeing the World (1927, Short) - Johnny Jesse James (1927) - Jesse James as a boy (uncredited) Chicken Feed (1927, Short) - Prof. Presto Misterio The Valley of the Giants (1927) - Bryce, as a Boy (uncredited) The Crowd (1928) - John - Age 12 (uncredited) The Trail of '98 (1928) - Mother's Boy Babes in Toyland (1934) - Little Boy Blue