Stanley Fafara
{{Short description|American actor (1949–2003)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Stanley Fafara
| image = Stanley_Fafara_in_Leave_It_to_Beaver_1960.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Stanley Fafara in Leave It To Beaver 1960
| birth_name = Stanley Albert Fafara
| birth_date = {{birth date|1949|9|20|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{dda|2003|9|20|1949|9|20}}
| death_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.
| resting_place = Redland Pioneer Cemetery
| nationality = American
| education = North Hollywood High School
| occupation = Child actor
| years_active = 1955–1963
| children = 1
| relatives = Tiger Fafara (brother)
Dez Fafara (nephew)
}}
Stanley Albert Fafara (September 20, 1949 – September 20, 2003) was an American child actor, best known for his role as Hubert "Whitey" Whitney in the original Leave It to Beaver television series. His older brother, Tiger, played "Tooey W. Brown" in the series.
Early life and career
Fafara was born in San Francisco, California, in September 1949. In 1957, at the age of 7, his mother took him to an open casting call for a new family television series titled Leave It to Beaver. He had been working in commercials and television westerns since the age of 4. Fafara earned the part of Hubert "Whitey" Whitney, one of the Beaver Cleaver's best friends.
Fafara remained with Leave It to Beaver for six years. After the show's cancellation in 1963, he attended North Hollywood High School. He became friendly with the pop-rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders and reportedly moved in with the band for a time. He developed an alcohol habit and began to use drugs.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-27-me-fafara27-story.html |first=Dennis |last=McLellan |title=Stanley Fafara, 54; 'Whitey' on 'Beaver' |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 17, 2014 |date=September 27, 2003}}
At his parents' instigation, Fafara went to live with his sister in Jamaica, where he tried his hand at painting; however, he continued to drink and use narcotics. He then returned to Los Angeles in 1972 where he was married briefly. He supported himself by dealing narcotics. In the 1980s he was arrested for breaking into pharmacies seven times. Fafara was sentenced to a year in jail after being arrested and convicted for an eighth burglary. After his release from jail, Fafara tried several jobs but eventually returned to dealing drugs.
Fafara later developed an addiction to heroin and was in-and-out of rehabilitation centers for many years. He became sober in 1995.
Later years and death
Fafara spent the final eight years of his life clean and sober, initially living in a house for recovering addicts and alcoholics, then in a subsidized apartment in downtown Portland, Oregon. He lived on Social Security checks of $475 per month until his hospitalization in 2003. Due to his addiction to heroin, he contracted hepatitis C.
Fafara died on September 20, 2003, his 54th birthday, in Portland, Oregon, of complications from hernia surgery he had undergone the previous month.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=20030927&id=6kpPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2572,3290105| title=Actor who played Beav's pal dead at 53| date=September 27, 2003| newspaper=The Blade| page=D5| access-date=June 16, 2022| agency=Reuters}} Fafara is buried at Redland Pioneer Cemetery in Redland, Oregon.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1955
| Fred Makepeace - Age 6 | Uncredited |
| 1957
| Carl Svenson | Episode: "Iron Men" |
| 1957-1963
| 57 episodes |
| 1958
| Boy | Episode: "Millionaire Dan Howell" |
| 1958
| Boy on Evacuation School Bus | Uncredited |
| 1958
| Johnny O'Malley | Episode: "The Luke O'Malley Story" |
| 1959
| Young Boy | Episode: "Angels of Vengeance" |
| 1959
| | Episode: "Eye Witness" |
| 1961
| Peewee | Episode: "The Haunted House"" |
| 1962
| The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | Hansel | Uncredited |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0264996}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080223191704/http://www.leaveittobeaver.org/whitey_interview.htm Whitey Interview]}} at leaveittobeaver.org
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fafara, Stanley}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male child actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American people convicted of burglary
Category:Male actors from San Francisco
Category:Male Western (genre) film actors