Томас Росс Бонд: «Наша банда» жұлдызы және алғашқы Джимми Олсен

American actor (1926–2005)
the Major League Baseball player

Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods in Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedies (first as "Tommy" and later as "Butch"). Also, he is noted for being the first actor to appear onscreen as DC Comics character Jimmy Olsen, in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950).

Born in Dallas, Texas, Bond got his start in 1931 at the age of 4 when a talent scout for Hal Roach studios approached him as he was leaving a Dallas cinema. Bond was hired at Hal Roach Studios for the Our Gang series in the summer of 1931 to begin work that upcoming fall, at around the same time as George "Spanky" McFarland was hired. Bond worked in Our Gang for three years, alternately appearing as a supporting character and a background actor. His speaking roles increased by 1934, including his most substantive role up to that point, as the gang's band conductor in Mike Fright. In late 1934, Bond left the series and returned to public school, still earning periodic bit parts in Hollywood productions. After leaving the gang for the first time, Bond also worked as a voice actor, most notably in several of Tex Avery's Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros. His best known voice role was as the speaking voice of "Owl Jolson" in Tex Avery's 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Love to Singa. Bond returned to Our Gang on a recurring basis late in 1936, when Roach hired him to play "Butch", the neighborhood bully. In the film Practical Jokers, his mother calls him "Tommy", apparently indicating that "Butch" was a nickname. Bond's first short as Butch was Glove Taps. Besides filling the role of the archetypal Our Gang bully, the Butch character also regularly competed with meek Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) for the affections of his sweetheart Darla (Darla Hood). While in Our Gang, Bond appeared in a number of outside films, such as those featuring fellow Hal Roach Studios comedians Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy. By the late 1930s Bond was so established as a juvenile actor that other studios recruited him for feature films. He was a regular in Columbia's Five Little Peppers series of children's stories in 1939 40. He also appeared opposite singing star Gloria Jean in Universal's A Little Bit of Heaven (1940). When the Our Gang series moved to Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1938, Bond remained with the group. His final Our Gang short, Bubbling Troubles (1940); Bond continued to work in other MGM productions following his departure from Our Gang. In total, Bond appeared in 27 Our Gang shorts – 13 as "Tommy" and 14 as "Butch".

After serving in the U. S. Navy during World War II, Bond returned to acting, and appeared in two Gas House Kids features alongside former on screen rival Carl Switzer. In the late 1940s, Bond became the first actor to portray cub reporter Jimmy Olsen in two Superman film serials: Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). Bond retired from television in 1991. In his latter years he lived in the Fresno and Madera Ranchos area, and served as a spokesman for a number of Our Gang related materials. Bond published his autobiography, Darn Right It's Butch: Memories of Our Gang/The Little Rascals, with the help of Fresno teacher, film historian and co author Ron Genini, in 1994. Tommy's son, Thomas R. Bond II "Butch, Jr.", who is a film and television producer, worked with his father in their family production company, Biograph Company. The senior Bond also hosted The Rascals, a documentary on the life and times of the Little Rascals. Throughout his lifetime, Bond appeared in 73 films, was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, joining in 1937, and worked with many Hollywood stars in the years of 1933 to 1951, including James Stewart, Eleanor Powell, Ray Bolger, Frank Morgan, and Eddie Cantor among many others.

Bond died on September 24, 2005, at age 79 due to complications from heart disease in Northridge, California. He is buried at U. S. Veterans Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.