Editing Spanky McFarland (section)

===Later years===
In 1952, at age 24, McFarland joined the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]. Upon his return to civilian life, indelibly [[Typecasting (acting)|typecast]] in the public's mind as "Spanky" from ''Our Gang,'' he found himself unable to find work in show business. He took less glamorous jobs, including work at a soft drink plant, a hamburger stand, and a popsicle factory. In the mid-1950s, when the ''Our Gang'' comedies were syndicated on television as ''The Little Rascals'', McFarland hosted an afternoon children's show, ''The Spanky Show'', on [[KOTV-DT|KOTV]] television in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]]. The show included a studio audience and appearances by other celebrities such as [[James Arness]]. ''Little Rascals'' shorts were also shown.<ref name=maltin/> Station executives prevented McFarland from developing and expanding the show's format, and by 1960 McFarland had quit the show.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

After that stint, he continued at odd jobs: selling wine, operating a restaurant and night club, and selling appliances, electronics, and furniture. He was selling for [[Philco-Ford]] Corporation, where he advanced to national sales training director. During this time, McFarland continued to make personal appearances and cameo roles in films and television, including an appearance on ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'' with [[Darla Hood]] and [[Billie Thomas|William "Buckwheat" Thomas]]. As general manager, McFarland helped launch the classic movie channel [[YTA_TV#Background|The Nostalgia Channel]] in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/127210%7C141571/Spanky-Mcfarland#biography|title=TCM: Spanky McFarland|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=April 8, 2013}}</ref> During the 1990s, after his self-described "semi-retirement", Spanky lent his name and celebrity to help raise money for charities, primarily by participating in golf tournaments. Spanky also had his own namesake charity golf classic for 16 years, held in [[Marion, Indiana|Marion]], [[Indiana]].<ref name=maltin/> He also traveled the country doing speaking engagements and lectures about his movie roles and his days in the ''Our Gang''. His final television appearance was in 1993, playing himself in the [[cold open]] of the ''[[Cheers]]'' episode "Woody Gets An Election".<ref>{{Cite web |last=ComedyFan2010 |date=July 13, 2014 |title="Cheers" Woody Gets an Election (TV Episode 1993) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539930/ |website=IMDb}}</ref>

In January 1994, McFarland posthumously joined fellow alumnus [[Jackie Cooper]] to become one of only two ''Our Gang'' members to receive a star on [[Hollywood Walk of Fame|Hollywood's Walk of Fame]].