Buckwheat Hoax

[TheNoisePolluter]

He just a poor black man trying to get some fame..lol

[DisWldFrk90]

I remember a woman who had small roles in Our Gang had to prove she really was a former member by showing a really old paycheck she had received from the Hal Roach Studios during that time. This guy had no proof....because he was not Buckwheat. Can't believe this guy kept going with this even after he was caught. Funny cause the first Buckwheat (that he claimed to be) was actually a girl....a really little girl lol. Can't blame Spanky for not wanting to talk to him.

[MrMotomann]

this guyis the ugliest most mentally ill man ive ever seen

[jwallbanger]

THE GUY IS OBVIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND THESE VULTURES MAKE A SHOW OUT OF HIM. PARASITES.

[dbarroga]

lol he's not the criminal 20/20 is...i don't see y they're so pissed off at him...they found out the man's dead and these shows kept bringing him on and paying him.....20/20 my ass how about 50/50

[elchoya100]

they got stymied hes really farina

[colemabe]

wha the?!



[b9r73]

This guy wouldve been better off trying to pass as stymie

[wgrudows]

LOL love it when a lier gets caught.

[FlashFizz]

Buckwheat was shot by John David Stutts.

[MrBloodyTampons]

@FlashFizz William "Billie" Thomas, Jr. (March 12, 1931 – October 10, 1980) was an American child actor best remembered for portraying the character of Buckwheat in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) short films from 1934 until the series' end in 1944. He was a native of Los Angeles, California.Thomas died of a heart attack in his Los Angeles apartment on October 10, 1980.

[mhertz25]

What is incredible to me is that - aside from the pathetic delusions of the "fake" Buckwheat - there was not one ABC staff member who was a Little Rascals fan who knew that William Thomas - the real Buckwheat - has passed away years ago. All serious Little Rascals fans knew this.....and certainly Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, the most well known Little Rascals experts knew this - yet the idiot ABC producer went with the story anyway. No wonder he resigned.

[kosemify]

He's just wookin pa nub is all

[McNeillMcLean]

What in the world this makes no sense at all. This man is a fool hahahahahaha ummm.

[ACluelessKid]

He's either one heck of a liar or delusional.

[Matlike1]

I'm Buckwheat too.

[TJae1]

Bettr than Murphy's version :)

[DavidHenesy]

@CaseyMcLaughalot humour and intents ah merci, they are to us here as shown or presented difficult thing to translate on the page sometimes!? See as it was never my intention to insult you whatsoever!, I thought until this very day .....you were only making fun with me, not at me.

Sophia

PS Off to The Netherlands for the summer! Have a nice one wherever you are going?, non joking! :)

[DavidHenesy]

@CaseyMcLaughalot Excuse pardon, I am attend Vassar College ans as a Film and Journalism Major, soon to be Journalist with a major show business paper, web group and publishing company and have available online any request from The American Film Institute any pertinent also the full information on The "Our Gang" Shorts movie series created and filmed by the late Hall Roach from the 1920's to the early 1940's. There may be a language barrier, pardon a 20 yr old f/Quebecois student film? Sophia

[DavidHenesy]

Spanky has real class... Obviously Frog French is my primary ape like ;Language!!!

[DavidHenesy]

Spanky has real class...

[DavidHenesy]

@CaseyMcLaughalot maybe! i have no argument w/u my internet comrade. :)

[DavidHenesy]

@CaseyMcLaughalot no records were lost and the man was clearly a troubled in the head fake.

Sophia

[anchorman87]

@CaseyMcLaughalot good point!

[Juliaflo]

I distinctly remember hearing of the passing of William 'Buckwheat' Thomas in 1980, and it was a dark day.

[Drinkman7]

Bill English in heaven with God: Bill:Obviously you know who I am am

God:Err No?!

Bill: Buckwheat of The Little Rascals!

God:No your not!

Bill:Yes I am damn it!

God:If you are him do the Buckwheat signature face

Bill:I'm too old to do that face!

[MelanieLouM]

"....as they say, hindsight is 20/20" OH SNAP! ^_^

[TkMeBk]

Too funny. Spanky was quite graceful & Mr. English was doing what he could for his "15 mins of Fame!" As a bagger, whatever he got from ABC for the interview was big time! ROFL

[themredweirdoshow]

The guys at ABC News have always been complete idiots. Whether they're blowing up pickup trucks for fake safety feature stories, or slagging Walmart about fake sales scam claims, screwing up on a Buckwheat story is par for the course. The ABC producer resigned after this fiasco. BTW, everyone (except ABD dummies) knows there was only one Buckwheat, not three. The other two black actors used the names Farina and Stymie.

[haitipi]

He said he was the first Buckwheat. Even William Thomas would know that the FIRST Buckwheat was played by Stymie's sister, I believe her name was Carlena Beard. Then Willie Mae Taylor played her/him for 3 shorts. Buckwheat morphed into a boy in 1935. Billie Thomas did play other un-named parts in 1934

[MichaelHansenFUN]

Fallout from this incident included the resignation of a 20/20 producer, and a negligence lawsuit filed by the son of William Thomas.The impostor, Bill English, died in 1994, still claiming to be the real Buckwheat cast member.

[shydmples]

@MichaelHansenFUN Wow...I didn't know that. Thanks for the info....the guy was clearly a PayDay bar, though..lol

[MichaelHansenFUN]

In 1990, the ABC newsmagazine 20/20 aired a segment purporting to be an interview with Buckwheat, now a grocery bagger in Arizona. However, the interview was actually with a man named Bill English, who claimed to be the adult Buckwheat. By the next week, 20/20 had learned of their error (George "Spanky" McFarland personally contacted the media following the broadcast), that the true Buckwheat had been dead for 10 years, and admitted their mistake on-air.

[ltcolt1]

@potsie791 You are confused. That happens to a lot of good folks who don't keep up with Our Gang alumni, so you're not alone. Clearly, a quick look at the facts will show how wrong you are, but I won't hold it against you. Obviously you must be an expert in something, but I appreciate your feedback. Cheers, mate!

[shydmples]

I'm Buckwheat, Bitch! lol

[ltcolt1]

BILL ENGLISH IS THE REAL BUCKWHEAT!!! Shoddy reporting, she didn't ask whether there were multiple Buckwheats, or what any other ex-Our Gang folks thought. How do we the the "dead" Buckwheat was the real one, or not someone with the same name? And if I were to guess what the real Buckwheat was doing this days, I would guess he was working in a supermarket. Bill English is the one true Buckwheat, and I demand that he be recognized as such!

[Potsie791]

@ltcolt1 You don't know what you're talking about. The real Buckwheat was Billie Thomas. There was only one Buckwheat! This guy can't even talk, there's no way he was Buckwheat, and they proved it wasn't him. You are in no position to demand anything, because this man is NOT Buckwheat!

[macroevolve]

Mr. English was speaking nothing but jibberish. Why did he even agree to be on the show when he knew George Mcfarland (spanky) would be there...lol

[joshjames76]

TV still hasn't changed. Everyone wants to get there 15 minutes of fame. Now 2011 its a million times worse. Jerry Springer and all the stupid court shows; bring yourself to the court room and make a fool of yourself in front of millions of people. How sad....This guy aint Buckwheat!

[hellraiza81]

LOL  He sounds like he's lying.

[gretschjazzer]

I'm Buckwheat dammit!

[brahud]

Schizophrenia.... clearly

[taleahj]

im sorry but this is the funniest thing ive ever seen in my life.

[SandraKayeII]

This poor guy, Mr. English, just never had a chance to be somebody other than himself. You have to admit, it is nice to be able to be someone else some time in ones life. This is why actors have such great lives, they can do anything they want in someone else's name. Then in their real lives, they have money to afford their upkeep. Now, that is nice.

[zeelove8]

wow shame on u 20/20,,, that was a big F***K-up on their part.....

an Spanky handled him self with much class,, an that phony Buckwheat wasnt all there,, lets just say the elevator wasnt going to the top floor, he was coocoo an he obviously doesn't even resemble the real buckwheat in the lest bit,,,

[Kwimalo]

Death to the false Buckwheat!

[denardo]

@Kwimalo He's already dead. Died since '94

[kenjutsu34]

The whole "O-tay" thing is a goof up on Eddie Murphy's part doing his bit on SNL. The person responsible for O-tay and the speech impediment attributed by Murphy to Buckwheat was actually Porky.

[shydmples]

@kenjutsu34 lol You're actually right.

[bobadork]

eddie murray was a better buckwheat on snl than this guy.

[lordcrumb07]

@bobadork eddie murray? eddie murray? who the frak is eddie murray?

[bobadork]

@lordcrumb07 eddie murray was that guy who played the grandma in the nutty professor.

[lordcrumb07]

@bobadork Eddie MURPHY played the entire Klump family.

[SenorZorrozzz]

This guy didn't need any drugs, he was crazy already.

Spanky, was such a cool guy. He was so classy that he won't challenge the guy on the air.

[19Truth53]

Jesus!

[SurleyBlaine]

Billie Thomas first appeared in the 1934 Our Gang shorts For Pete's Sake!, The First Round-Up, and Washee Ironee as a background player. The "Buckwheat" character was a female at this time, portrayed by Our Gang kid Matthew "Stymie" Beard's younger sister Carlena in For Pete's Sake!, and by Willie Mae Taylor in three other shorts.

Buckwheat is Stymies little sister. In the episode called "The First Round Up" they use the name. In "For Pete's Sake" they say its Stymies sister.

[LunaticByTheSea]

Everyone knows that Buckwheat was assasinated during an episode of Saturday Night Live back in the 80's.

[vincevoro]

Wow, this is some funny ass crap, Saturday Night Live couldn't have written something this good.

[nealkassanoff]

Who is the "real" Buckwheat.

[Muzzie0323]

Spanky is a total classic act to not get into a debate with this obviously sick gentleman. RIP to the real William(Buckwheat)Thomas..

[themightycelestial]

My response after I first saw this....

"O-Tay...."

[stalag58]

BUCKWHEAT  OMG LOL LOL LOL LOL This shit is funny

[humbleonewlp]

That was ignorant of that Interviewer. "Buck your eyes like Buckwheat."........... I would of bucked slapped her. We get it ain't him, why add insult to injury? I would of stopped filming. Kudos to classy Spanky for not stoopin to that level.

[56BUICKRiviera]

Stymie liked heroin

[josymon]

He's Buckwheat's stunt double.

[cdbutler1204]

Did he say "Spanky and I did a film together in the horny house?"

[VisionofOrion]

He could also pass for Danny Glover

[holzapfelstein]

Ha! Watch the reporter roll her eyes when she says, "I guess after 50 years you might be a little bit out of practice." 5:10

[starrfisher]

some people want their 15 minutes of fame and will do anything to get it. even lie.

[shydmples]

I don't care what anyone says...I believe this guy...and I'm Stevie Wonder......lol

[FireProMMA]

Is that JR? Bah gawd what a slobber knocker!

[gothamjediknight]

Im proud of Spanky standing up to this charlatan for his old friend Buckwheat.

RIP Spanky & Buckwheat

[HCShannon]

Reminds me of when the homeless guy said he was Peter Criss (the original drummer/Cat Man from KISS) and than the real Criss confronted him on a talk show!

[Vengeance31]

Well heaven forbid a news program actually checks its sources. 

[143AC]

MY God! What A crook! How dare he create this fraud..I've met the real Bill("Buckwheat")Thomas..that man was shorter and heavey.When I met him

in L.A.,Cal. back in 1980..and he didn't look like or sound like this phoney.

[CrummyCurtis]

I especially admire Spanky's final word on the matter "I'm only going to tell you what I know." And that he did.

[OldHollywoodFan]

I find this video kind of sad.

I feel embarassed for that guy and I think

its sad that they didnt even know that the real Billie Thomas

was dead for TEN years!

I wonder what he thought of that.

R.I.P Billie.

<333

[trucker94373]

Who cares? Let that old fool think what he wants to. Nobody is listening to his BS anyway.

[AMEwrestling]

RIP George "Spanky" McFarland. At least you stood up and defended Buckwheat even when that creep claimed to be Buckwheat. Spanky FTW from beyond the grave!

[50SecondVisual]

dude that bill green guy's face is all deformed lol

[emanresusirk]

He does have Alzheimers, he keeps the cast members by their character names rather than their stage names.

[shydmples]

lol...he's lying his ass off

[gothamjediknight]

As you say goodbye to everybody, why don't you give us the old Buckwheat face?

[2handsforchrist]

@gothamjediknight he was seriously roasted right then and there...he started squirmin' and lyin'!

[whisperingsage]

20/20 producer resiggned over this and Thomas' son sued.

[whisperingsage]

I looked up Billie Thomas and there was one other Buckwheat...played by a GIRL! which was Stymie's sister!

[f1shk1LL3R]

there was 3 buckwheats and buckwheat played a spectator while buckwheat #2 was buckwheat another girl in the episode washy irony and stymies little sister was in the episode for pete's sake and one other she was also a character named marmalade

[NukeIt2Bdone]

Yeah there was a little girl Buckwheat first. but Billie Thomas is the only man ever to play Buckwheat. I don't remember them ever calling Stymies sister anything in For Pete's Sake, the character is not called Buckwheat.

[KroniKKidZ28]

@NukeIt2Bdone I think her name on the old movies was Farina

[fenderbass]

If this was now days,he would still have a reality tv show coming up shortly.His lies could bring rating. forget the truth.

[SimplyBraggis]

I think its funny that the producers of 20/20 screwed up, then went even further with their screw up by dragging this out and bringing the guy back; almost like they wanted the world to see how convincing a liar Bill English was, only for it to back-fire since anybody with a brain could tell this guy was a victim of Alzheimer's and the hooch.

[SimplyBraggis]

Keep in mind that this happened in 1990. The majority of the "Our Gang" cast disappeared into obscurity after the show (50 years earlier) and most of them never regained any kind of career. And it wasn't like there was Wikipedia back in the day where they could research in a minute.

[pegbars]

@SimplyBraggis

Oh, but they had Lexus/Nexus. Pre-Google days of the Internet.

[OldskolFan]

You can tell he is lying through his teeth by the way he searches for words and rubs his ears with his hands. The journalist (can't remember her name) is ridiculous for asking him to do the Buckwheat face! She wants a SNL moment with Eddie but shame on her.

[torchkit]

"I'm Mr. Buckwheat."

[wing59]

That black man be hav,e som big balls

[SK8alot13]

holy shit big ass lips huga ass nose

[clr855]

Hiiiiiii Buckwheat!!!!

[Lampshade51]

This Bill Green guy was obviously either mentally ill, or was stupid enough to think that the surviving Rascals (like Spanky) or Hal Roach wouldn't call him out.

Yes, Spanky was a class act to not beat on an obviously sick man.

I hope Green got some medical attention, or at least a strong legal scare from the authorities

about throwing around such B.S.

BTW, there is a great picture of Spanky with the real Buckwheat (Billy Thomas) taken in the 1970s in the Leonard Maltin book on the Rascals.

[NukeIt2Bdone]

@Lampshade51 He wants them to call Hal Roach to confirm hahaha

[colt4667]

Sick old coon! Outrageous liar! Doesn't look even remotely like Buckwheat. How did 20/20 screw up so badly? Don't they check facts? What a contemptible old nigger!

[reborn5310]

Spanky showed a great deal of class in defending his friend William Thomas without humiliating Mr. English, who managed to humiliate himself, and was obviously not who he claimed to be. Spanky showed himself to be a real gentleman, and Mr. English came across as a man in need of medical attention,

[d4seasons]

@reborn5310 mr. english had the nerve to lie. probably a very sick man looking for attention. just wished thomas jr. was on this interview. 20/20 should have done more research.

[Superdweeben]

That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen

[krapdinkles]

I worked in the grocery store in Tempe AZ with this guy in 1990 when 20/20 filmed him. He came to my house drunk every night at midnight. He was not trying to fool anyone into thinking he was Buckwheat. He really believed he was because he had an untreated mental illness. So not only was the news media wrong about him being the real Buckwheat in the first place, but for 20 years they have been saying Bill English was an impostor who intentionally created a hoax. The truth - he was neither.

[Darthbane1988]

What happened to the guy?

[krapdinkles]

I was only there in AZ for one year - but my roommate at the time stayed there and actually flew with this guy to NY to be on the Phil Donahue show. I never saw the show - but my friend tells me it was really sad to watch this poor sick guy be accused of being a hoax when really he was old and mentally ill. I assume Bill English has died by now - he was a serious drunk and not in good health. If he were still alive he'd be well into his 80's. I some how doubt he lived that long.

[Darthbane1988]

But the thing i'm confused about, is that uf they knew what the man who played buckwheat died 10 years ago, why were they "Duped" by this Bill English guy?

[krapdinkles]

I didn't get that either. In Arizona all the locals knew he was just a crazy drunk guy who said he was Buckwheat. Nobody thought he was THE Buckwheat - so why did the show 20/20 ever make this assumption and do a whole segment on it. Any moron could look it up (like I did at the time) and see the real story and that the real Buckwheat was dead. I was glad this happened - it opened my eyes to how the "news" operates. Don't believe everything (if anything) you hear.

[Darthbane1988]

I don't understand it. You think a news organization would check their facts before interviewing the guy.

[krapdinkles]

the lesson I learned is that they are most likely more often than not just running with a story regardless of the facts. Why not? It's easier, cheaper and almost no one questions it if it's on TV. It's sad and kinda scary.

[diamondlady1126]

The real Buckwheats son had something to say about that.  Sad he had to defend his fathers death.

[WizardGlik]

Is this affair still current?

[SigEdForever]

Bill English WAS Buckwheat !!! They pretended he wasnt to protect a tax rip off they stole millions in royalties from Buckwheat, my Dad told me

[kendall4891]

Wow, that guy made it pretty obvious that he WAS NOT Buckwheat!!!

[waninghope]

This guy is just full of shit..pure and simple.

[Pikachuiscool]

This dude is friggin crazy.

[dinobam]

Geez, did Spanky grow into an old fart.

[MelanieLouM]

Did you think he was going to be a child forever? O_o

[jonpetteroie]

I saw Elvis...he is alive!

[oldedrum]

I thought Eddie Murphy was Buckwheat?

....Boy now I'm really confused.

: )

[jg6008]

what a faker and a loser

[MelanieLouM]

I know...I would have been mad as Hell if some jackass tried to pass himself off as my old friend, knowing that he was long dead! I would have been furious about that...good for "Spanky" for not wanting to stoop to this guy's level! >:(

[bettypro]

Wasnt there more then 1 Buckwheat tho?

The older shows have a older child but I am not sure if they called him buckwheat or not.

[Primevals33]

That 20/20 chic was raped by two black guys... Really I am not kidding!

[ll8520ll]

my mom knows her......she was abducted and shot up with heroin

[Darthbane1988]

Really?

[ll8520ll]

Yup.

[Nefarioso]

I thought the little girl was "Farina".

[superenoch11]

Dam 20/20, get Wikipedia!

[MelanieLouM]

It didn't exist in 1990 when this clip was made. Would have been a big help, though, huh? ^_^

[superenoch11]

there seriously needs to be a sarcasm font identifier, right next to bold and italics..

[artisticshit]

Spanky still looks the same...haha!! The Big Boss!!

[youngrelleus19]

and people that is the real buckweet he was scammed out of the show years ago

and tryed to fake his death this is a sad conspiracy

[youngrelleus19]

the reporter looks like peggy from married with children

[Manongjojo]

This guy was prosicuted for fraud from what I heard.

[groovinupslowly]

lmao i love the interviewer

she did an eyeroll and cornered that sucker she should of been a lawyer

[movieone67]

she wants him to coon and shuck and buffoon!

[geocgeo]

He's as much Buckwheat as he is a box of Wheaties cereal. I hope he didn't get paid any money for this interview. Phoney prick.

[alcos4]

Phony Bastard

[dgllamas]

This ain't Buck, no way.

[starrhiannon]

Oh my god.. lol.

[Dremple]

i am buckwheat

[Soulblackman]

I solved it. He's the reincarnation of Buckwheat.

[Soulblackman]

EDDIE MURPHY couldn't make this up!

[143AC]

This tall,thin phoney..is not the real"Buckwheat"

..The first "Buckwheat"was a girl named Carlena

and the real "Buckwheat' was a short,stock guy.

[bluetoothheffa]

carlena was his sister. look on imdb.

[wajimya]

butwheat lives

[jdsilver86]

HAHAHA. Well George McFarland was a really respectable guy for not participating in the News's HUMILIATION of some random impersonator.. "If you want me to write down.. ..I'm not going to do that." F*** the attention-hungry propagating NEWS always trying to EXPLOIT anything they CAN!!!

[mikeycereal]

That 2020 chick is hot

[RealAgentOfSHIELD]

She is a cutie, but she works for A Current Affair

[themightycelestial]

@RealAgentOfSHIELD

Yes. She looks like she could be Katey Sagal's sister.

[Joerunner21]

Maureen O'Boyle