After seeing a notice in the local newspaper , his mother entered him in a contest to replace the Hal Roach produced Our Gang comedies fat boy character Joe Cobb who had outgrown the role . He won the role over 500 other entries . He played the character '' Bouncy '' in three '' Our Gang '' films in 1932 . He was in the '' Our Gang '' films '' Choo-Choo ! '' , '' The Pooch '' and '' Hook and Ladder '' . '' Choo-Choo ! '' was produced on May 7 , 1932 , '' The Pooch '' was produced on June 11 , 1932 , and '' Hook and Ladder '' was produced on August 27 , 1932 . The March 1933 Long Beach earthquake left the Culver City studios damaged and production was halted for a time . The studio exercised the ' act of God ' clause and did not renew his contract
1933 Long Beach earthquake
1933 Long Beach earthquake
Harold Wertz