To Tell the Truth - Freckles from "Our Gang"; Bronx Zoo nursery director (Nov 26, 1957)

PANEL: Polly Bergen, Ralph Bellamy, Kitty Carlisle, Hy Gardner
CONTESTANT #1: Virginia Craft (Hunting & fishing reporter for Sports Illustrated)
CONTESTANT #2: Jack Bothwell (Freckles from "Our Gang")
CONTESTANT #3: Helen Martini (Bronx Zoo's animal nursery director)
Many thanks, as always, to epaddon for providing his copy of this episode.
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[@Danmark30]

Barney Martin in segment #2 is an actor who played Jerry Seinfelds father on Seinfeld. Instantly recognizable! So cool.

[@4seeableTV]

It took me until the middle of the round to finally notice him. I was too busy trying to figure out who Freckles was. I guessed correctly just from the initial line-up.

[@93Jubilee]

I like that actor. As I understand it, he was a policeman for most of his career, then discovered a knack for acting! Glad he did; he's very good.

[@KevinButler-m9r]

I was lucky enough to Meet Barney Martin in NYC years ago..a sweet, talented and kindly gentleman..he also appeared on the local kids tv show"Hall Of Fun"with Fred Hall on WNEW TV Ch.5 in NYC during the early 1960's.

[@rickwhite3181]

I noticed him right away he's was awesome

[@daija001]

I really love Bud's laugh (the best on T.V.)... he always makes me lol. Every time.

[@MichaelSimmons.]

Oddly enough, as I'm watching this episode, I'm watching a movie on AMC called Kentucky Kernels. The actor playing the child lead, is Spanky McFarland.

[@christopherkalble4373]

Barney Martin was Jerry Sienfeld's father on the Sienfeld.

[@joeambrose3260]

Who the phuck is Sienfeld ?

[@cekalble]

@@joeambrose3260 "i" before "e" except after "c"...Spellcheck was correct. My proof reading was not. Makes no difference..That's Morty Seinfeld who was actually the 2nd actor to play Jerry's dad. Got the China Flu syndrome of watching old 50's TV shows..Try "What's My Line"...Better New York City celebrities as panelists. Plus one female panelist, a well known newspaper reporter, that knew too much about JFK's assassination and wound up dead. So the story goes.

[@joeambrose3260]

@@cekalble 2 actors also played Georges' dad

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Hey! That was Barney Martin, who played Seinfeld's father.

[@lajas46]

Mickey Daniels was Freckles and all episodes were filmed in CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA

[@TheDobier66]

Mickey Daniels wasn't Freckles. There was no character named Freckles.

[@LandondeeL]

@@TheDobier66 That's right. Art Baker host of "You Asked For It" mistakenly called Daniels "Freckles" at an Our Gang reunion, but Daniels did not correct Baker, apparently not wanting to spoil the mood.

[@rickwhite3181]

Yes there was a freckles​@@TheDobier66

[@njmarknj]

Re Freckles: Kitty Carlisle said, "Are you sure these are the right three fellas?" She was SO RIGHT! This guy, who claimed to be Freckles perpetuated a fraud as he was never Freckles. Google it and they even mention his appearing on To Tell The Truth under that guise.

[@patriciamelton6810]

There were several "Freckles" throughout the several several groups of child actors. One was a girl, Mary Ann Jackson. The one shown here was in the first group of children. At the end of this video Bud shows a picture of this one when he was on "Our Gang" and explains that this man was in the first group of children. More than likely the silent ones.

[@riorich]

@@patriciamelton6810 Yes Mary had freckles, but she was only called Mary. There were guys with freckles, even Alfalfa had a few freckles. In Mike Fright, the kid that played the trombone had freckles, but he was named Leonard, and a few times he played other roles, mostly as the store owners son. "Eat this lemon", said the future Butch (Spike?), they are good for your freckles. This guy was a fraud, all Our Gang/ Little Rascals were filmed in California. The photo he took, does not show him with any of the cast. #1 said; the dog was always called, Spot, to dog was always called Petey or Pete, not Spot. Spot was the Dragon in the Munsters house under the steps. Yeah, I know this show was filmed way before the Munsters were made. One reason I watched this episode, because I couldn't remember any member named Freckles, and their faces did not ring a bell. I've seen the silent ones with Mickey with his freckles, with Chubby Joe, who was replaced by Chubby (Norman), and Mickey made a few movies with sounds, as the teachers boyfriend, truant officer, and a Our Gang re-union film.

[@KevinButler-m9r]

I know that this guy is a phony..the real "Freckles"was J.R.Smith..who still had freckles on his face..and I met him years ago..J.R.Smith was a small and slim man..he was nothing like these big heavyset guys.

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

i didn't recognize barney martin until the last when he identified himself. this guy had a long acting career. he played seinfeld's dad on that tv show.

[@RachelDavisMatthews]

Yes, I recognized him right away, saw him on Bdwy in ;Peter Pan' in 1980.

[@4seeableTV]

@@RachelDavisMatthews I guessed him about a minute before you. But I did correctly guess who Freckles was just from the first line-up.

[@cmans79tr7]

He may be an imposter, but he correctly named the river that runs through Red Bank, NJ :-)

[@atlasking6110]

So much Fake News in these comments about there never being a "Freckles." George "Freckles" Warde appeared in Our Gang films 2, 7, 8, 10 and 15 using the Our Gang Wiki filmography numbering system. I mean, this stuff is so easy to look up, rather than making fools of oneself.

[@terrihenricks4160]

At 3:38, Hy Gardner asked the contestants about John Denton Scott. He was once an editor for Field and Stream magazine who wrote about hunting with dogs. The real Virginia Craft (#2) was the first one to correctly identify him.

[@kenyongray2615]

The panel had a horrendous night. 1 for 12. Hy Gardner is slowly catching up to Polly on the annoyance meter but Polly is gorgeous so she can be overlooked. Thanks for the video. These shows are great in that you can play along.

[@patrickd.3681]

All depends on your taste. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy it when Polly Bergen has her moments.

[@kenyongray2615]

@@patrickd.3681 Very true. In later videos, I actually comment that I miss Polly. I do. She added comedy to the shows.

[@Aliyaji4424]

Virgina Kraft is still alive as of 11/1/2021

[@TheTerryGene]

I recognized Barney Martin immediately.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Lady #2 in Game #1 Man #3 in Game #2 Lady #2 in Game #3

[@michelinaporemba8604]

Barney Martin was an excellent character actor who played in many different shows. And on a different subject Hy Gardner reminded me of Bennett Cerf with the puns.

[@VahanNisanian]

Jan Murray's "Treasure Hunt" was very different from the more familiar Chuck Barris game with Geoff Edwards.

[@zacharydunlap-tunnage2220]

*****​ I still wish Sony would let us watch anything produced by Chuck Barris on KZbin. :-(

[@jgruber978]

***** Wasn't that the show where the big winner tried to get a myna bird to talk for extra prizes at the end?

[@maremacd]

Contestant #2 in game #2 played Jerry's father in Seinfeld!

[@savethetpc6406]

maremacd By golly, you're right! I *_thought_* he looked familiar! He's got quite an impressive resume of acting roles from 1955 all the way up to 2004. He died in 2005. In this episode he says he was "on leave" from the police department. I guess he never went back! :)

[@519djw6]

SaveThe TPC As soon as he said his name and that he was on leave from the NYPD, I realised who he was. IMDb credits him as playing "himself" in this episode, but misnames the panel by 1/4: It says that "Peggy Cass" was on the panel, instead of Polly Bergen. (Ironically,at first I thought he was Pierre Salinger, JFK's future future Press Secretary!)

[@savethetpc6406]

519DJW I think it also gave the date of the show as Dec. 25, 1956 -- at least that's what I saw when I looked for his credits as "self" on IMDb. Kind of weird how they can get some facts right and some wrong. I think anyone can post info. there -- or make corrections, but I don't know how to do it.

[@totellthetruthcbs4220]

maremacd Oh wow! Good catch!

[@totellthetruthcbs4220]

SaveThe TPC imdb info is user-submitted, but has to be approved before it shows up. I have no idea what the approval process entails, but clearly it does NOT entail verifying the info.

[@ronniebishop2496]

I get so many right.

[@rjwalker6677]

The Freckles from "Our Gang" really stumped me. I thought for sure it was #1. He fooled most of the panel too. Proves that if you act confident and very sure of yourself (like he did), you can fool people. .

[@tonysam1955]

The "real one" fooled the producers because he was a fraud.

[@rjwalker6677]

That explains alot. I didn't really get it wrong then, if there was no way to get it right.

[@RayPointerChannel]

Number 3 said he made the films on the east coast. That was a give away. Number one knew that the Hal Roach Studios were in Culver City. It used to be on Washington Boulevard. The site became a shopping site when the studio was demolished in 1961.

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Some say there WERE no characters called Freckles......in those comedies.

[@comedyshorts2]

According to Our Gang biographer Dick Bann, Freckles was NEVER in any Our Gang films. Lots of misinformation here. Our Gang films were all shot on the West Coast.

[@dancegxy7757]

I have been googling and according to multiple sources Jack Bothwell was an imposter and never played on Our Gang.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Nah you wrong brudda!!!!

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Absolutely right. Lots of people claimed to be in an Our Gang movie.

[@rickwhite3181]

​@@peternagy-im4beabsolutely right bruddda

[@peternagy-im4be]

@@rickwhite3181 absolutely wrong brudda

[@CC-Tron]

According to wiki Jack Bothwell was an "Our Gang" imposter.

[@CC-Tron]

Jeff A They're not too old if they started in the silent films from the early 1920's. One of the kids was born 1912.

[@newodkin]

CC-Tron Bothwell was one of the first of many impostors claiming to have been OUR GANG members. He gets answers wrong all over the place in the game even.

[@savethetpc6406]

ZoneFighter1 Wow, what a con! I wonder if any of the other "real" contestants were really fakers! I also wonder what kind of fact-checking the Goodson-Todman staff did into their contestants' histories. Apparently (at least according to the article you posted) Jack Bothwell got away with his story while he was alive.

[@diannefaith7866]

ZoneFighter1 thank you !!! 👍🏼

[@kathleenwelch8548]

@ZoneFighter1 1

[@gsadventures678]

Polly is breathtaking!

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

How did one become an imposter on TTTT? Did you have to know one of the staff or could people write to the show to sign up?

[@LandondeeL]

Sorry for the 2-year delay, but when I was in high school, I would go every week after school to the NBC studios to watch a TTTT taping where eventually I became known to everyone. They said if you wanted to be an imposter, make an appointment with G-T at their Park Avenue office. I flunked the very first question: "Are you in a position where you would be easily recognizable by Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, or Bill Cullen?"

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

@@LandondeeL Thanks for the story. I wish you had made it.

[@stanbrown32]

If you watch a lot of these episodes in a row, you notice that while there are various occupations represented among the imposters, a great many of them work for advertising agencies or do publicity for a magazine or work for a consumer products line (like perfume, or a clothing line), etc.--all jobs that would get them acquainted with TV producers like the Goodman-Todman people. Seems like they drew heavily on those advertising/publicity fields, and maybe had to work harder when they needed someone elderly or a child or teenager, etc. (And there is that one episode where Don Ameche is on the panel, and his two daughters are the imposters "assuming the identity" of another school-aged girl.)

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

@@stanbrown32 I think that the sales background of the imposters helped them tell stories and fake their identity.

[@LandondeeL]

The IMDb has no listing for a Jack Bothwell.

[@johngreen3543]

He is a phony.

[@LandondeeL]

@@johngreen3543 So Dick Bahn confirmed to me.

[@garysatterlee9455]

There was NO "Freckles" in any OUR GANG comedies. The fellow who claimed to be in the film shorts was a complete imposter.

[@93Jubilee]

It ISN"T "sad" to kill an elephant? I HOPE I misunderstoof that woman! I once stopped dateing a man because he kept his elephant "trophies" -- the horns of a once-magnificent creature! -- above his fireplace, and the trunk of one his huge legs had become part of a table! Disgusting and sick and incredibly tragic that we do this to our more glorious animals - or any animal!

[@rickwhite3181]

Amen it's Sick

[@tomitstube]

so much better when collyer says "good night and good luck", he got full of himself later with his politics and beliefs.

[@kenbrown438]

Budinski's always full of himself !!!! Funny a Presbyterian minister telling people that they can lie !!!!

[@rickwhite3181]

​​@@kenbrown438SYFM

[@johngreen3543]

Jack Bothwell was one of many people who claim they are "Our Gang" comedy stars. He is a phony.

[@joeambrose3260]

News flash: General Franco is still dead

[@WWChampion16]

The original "Freckles" was actually named Mickey Daniels. So all three are imposters!

[@RayPointerChannel]

There was no "Freckles" character. While Mickey Daniels was a red headed boy with a face full of freckles, he was just, "Mickey." Daniels became a construction engineer. I came in contact with him in the 1970s when he came in on a maintenance call at the university where I was working. He was known as "Red" at the time, but it was definitely him.

[@babsmarchand5402]

Jerry Seinfeld's TV dad in the middle spot here.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Sorry but even the real Jack Buntwell is a fake, because there was no 'Freckles' or Jack Buntwell in the Our Gang comedies! I can't believe this fooled all the producers of this show!

[@weatherboi]

I thought the name is Jack "Bothwell, not "Buntwell".

[@kevinbutler5026]

There was a "Freckles"in the silent "Our Gang"films..but..he was portrayed by J.R.Smith..Mr.Bothwell is a phony.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

***** Whichever it was, he's a phony!

[@rosabenavides7069]

Power rangers Samurai Mia Shaka Hi Sam Barney Power is Icarly

[@davidfritz2957]

It warms my heart to fantasize that after the show, the woman from Round #3 went backstage and beat the living crap out of the woman from Round #1! LOL

[@joeambrose3260]

Didn't Mickey Daniels have freckles. This guy is no Mickey Daniels

[@bevn362]

Among notable Our Gang imposters is "Jack Bothwell", who claimed to have portrayed a character named "Freckles", going so far as to appear on the game show To Tell the Truth in the fall of 1957, perpetuating this fraud. In 2008, a Darla Hood impostor, Mollie Barron, died claiming to have appeared as Darla in Our Gang. Another is Bill English, a grocery store employee who appeared on the October 5, 1990, episode of the ABC investigative television newsmagazine 20/20 claiming to have been Buckwheat. Following the broadcast, Spanky McFarland informed the media of the truth, and in December, William Thomas, Jr. (son of Billie Thomas, the person who played Buckwheat) filed a lawsuit against ABC for negligence. LONG BRANCH, N.J., March 8, 1967 (AP)--John F. Bothwell, who played Freckles in the "Our Gang" movie comedies from 1929 to 1931, died yesterday at Monmouth Medical Center. He was 46 years old and lived in Sea Bright. (New York Times)

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I hated the statement by one of the hunter imposters that theres nothing sad about shooting an animal. That is all I'll say.

[@mikewrasman5103]

There was NO 'Freckles' on Little Rascals/Our Gang!

[@RachelDavisMatthews]

Polly Bergin drives me crazy in these TTT shows. If I had a buck for every time she says "I voted for # , but I know its really #......." Sounds like someone who hated to be wrong lol. Her husband Freddie Fields was a real jerk, met him a few times many years ago. I wonder if Polly use to say "I married Freddie Fields, but really wanted to marry........" lol

[@willdrucker4291]

Holy Shittttt...it’s MORTY SEINFELD!!!/ł

[@kingforaday8725]

Strange how Polly Bergen asks a guest to spell a name. I dont believe Polly could even spell her own name.

[@chrysrobert5026]

This Bellamy is weird.

[@Beson-SE]

Hunting with general Franco. Not very PC... 1:53

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

un-PC on two counts.

[@Sarah_Gravydog316]

the hippo is the most dangerous animal. almost 100% of its bites are fatal.

[@totellthetruthcbs4220]

I didn't know that!

[@Sarah_Gravydog316]

To Tell the Truth (CBS) lol thats something I remember from my childhood; it's because hippos have a big mouth (excluding me lol)

[@daija001]

+Sarah Brandy Peters (Gravydog316) Because, there's a lot of lethal bacteria in a Hippo's mouth.

[@Sarah_Gravydog316]

Daija Snake no, it's because the mouth is so large!!

[@daija001]

Sarah Brandy Peters Oh, I see. Cheers.

[@Beson-SE]

Hunting with general Franco. Not very PC... 1:53

[@stanochocki8984]

Back then, no one gave a Fuck....Hell, FDR to Kennedy, they all sucked up to Franco.....

[@paulmcmurray8313]

True, he was an awful person.