Bobbie Beard was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

, best known for portraying "Cotton" in several Our Gang

Our Gang

Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...

short films from 1932 to 1934. He was a native of Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. His older brother was Matthew "Stymie" Beard, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters.

Our Gang years

As older brother Stymie was the main breadwinner for the Beard family, his success with the Our Gang series opened the door for his siblings. Bobbie Beard appeared as Stymie's younger brother in Hi'-Neighbor!

Hi'-Neighbor!

Hi'-Neighbor! is a 1934 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 126th Our Gang short to be released and Meins' first series entry as director.-Plot:...

, Forgotten Babies

Forgotten Babies

Forgotten Babies is a 1933 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 121st Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

, Fish Hooky

Fish Hooky

Fish Hooky is a 1933 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 120th Our Gang short that was released.- Plot :...

, A Lad an' a Lamp

A Lad an' a Lamp

A Lad an' a Lamp is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 119th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

and Birthday Blues

Birthday Blues

Birthday Blues is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 118th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

. His most memorable appearance was in A Lad an' a Lamp, in which Spanky McFarland

George McFarland

George Robert Phillips "Spanky" McFarland was an American actor most famous for his appearances as a child in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s...

 keeps wishing that Cotton could be a monkey. Despite his notable presence in several film, Beard never spoke a word.

Later years and death

After departing Our Gang, Beard became an auction dealer in the Los Angeles area. In later years, Beard worked at the Hillcrest Country Club

Hillcrest Country Club (Los Angeles)

Hillcrest Country Club is a private social club located in Los Angeles, California, United States.-The club:The property includes an 18-hole golf course and tennis courts, and serves as a meeting place for its members. The 18-hole "Hillcrest" golf course was designed by Willie Watson and opened in...

 in Los Angeles and became good friends with Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...

. He later served in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, and spent his final years working for the Los Angeles School Board

Los Angeles Unified School District

Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...

.

Beard died on October 16, 1999.