Editing Spanky McFarland (section)

==Early life==
McFarland was born in [[Dallas, Texas]], on October 2, 1928, to Virginia Winifred (née Phillips) and Robert Emmett McFarland.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gifford |first=Denis |date=July 3, 1993 |title=Obituary: George McFarland |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-george-mcfarland-1482593.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-george-mcfarland-1482593.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=December 11, 2019 |website=The Independent}}</ref><ref>Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997. Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services. Microfiche.</ref> He had three siblings: Thomas ("Tommy", who appeared in a few ''Our Gang'' episodes as "Dynamite"), Amanda, and Roderick ("Rod"). He attended Lancaster High School in [[Lancaster, Texas]].

Before joining the ''Our Gang'' comedies, "Sonny", as he was called by his family, modeled children's clothing for a Dallas department store and was also seen around the Dallas area on highway [[billboard (advertising)|billboards]] and in print advertisements for [[Wonder Bread]]. This established Sonny early on in the local public's eye as an adorable child model and provided experience before cameras.